Controversy in basketball program at high school program

[tornado]

Gotta read the whole article....
http://www.pjstar.com/article/20151209/NEWS/151209305/11130/SPORTS?Start=1

basically it details reports that the school's Athletic Director and Superintendant both interfered with and overrode the high school basketball coach's authority to select the team and determine playing time, and that there's suggestions of a racial or biased motivation behind it.
That the "higher ups" supposedly mandated that the coach not only select a certain player to be on the team but also that the player must get "playing time".


..now if anyone actually thinks this is rare....my observations would differ...
I believe I have seen clear-cut "tampering" and "meddling" even worse than this from AD's, Principals, school Presidents, and even Board members ...and not just at high a school level - I am certain we have all seen evidence at the college level.
But I certainly agree with Dunlap HS coach Jeff Barker that such undermining of the coach's authority is improper and destructive and in some cases (in public schools) even illegal.

 

[wily coyote]

Gotta read the whole article....
http://www.pjstar.com/article/20151209/NEWS/151209305/11130/SPORTS?Start=1

basically it details reports that the school's Athletic Director and Superintendant both interfered with and overrode the high school basketball coach's authority to select the team and determine playing time, and that there's suggestions of a racial or biased motivation behind it.
That the "higher ups" supposedly mandated that the coach not only select a certain player to be on the team but also that the player must get "playing time".


..now if anyone actually thinks this is rare....my observations would differ...
I believe I have seen clear-cut "tampering" and "meddling" even worse than this from AD's, Principals, school Presidents, and even Board members ...and not just at high a school level - I am certain we have all seen evidence at the college level.
But I certainly agree with Dunlap HS coach Jeff Barker that such undermining of the coach's authority is improper and destructive and in some cases (in public schools) even illegal.

Agree with you 100% that this is not just a Dunlap problem. A local man who coaches at a Springfield HS has resigned because of non support from his superiors. He also cut a student and their parents took his getting cut to the School Board and NAACP according to an article in the Springfield paper. His fellow coaches and teachers sent a letter to the Sup. telling them what a great role model and teacher he was but to no avail. They hired a Richwoods grad to replace him and he let the kid try out but also let him go. This is just getting crazy. Sure glad I never had to rely on 16 to 18 yr. olds to keep my job.

 

[tornado]

Here's a little more from the guy who covers high school basketball at the PJS Lonnie Schwindenhammer...LINK

"GOBBLEDYGOOK: If you read the story about Dunlap basketball in the Local section
of Thursday’s Journal Star, here’s my sifted-through understanding of the situation.

A student-athlete at Dunlap was a preseason cut from the freshman team as a freshman,
was cut from the sophomore team as a sophomore, was cut from the varsity team as a junior,
was cut again this season as a senior, and subsequently accepted a role as a team manager.
A person or persons within the district and with more authority than the superintendent
and athletics director, under the premise that Dunlap’s roster was not at the 15-player limit,
instructed the superintendent and AD to mandate to the head coach that the former cut player
and team manager be added to the team roster."


...so the facts are:
-Pam Adams reported that the player in question is Black
-the kid was cut every single year - freshman, sophomore, junior, & senior but was serving as team manager this year as a senior
-that someone "with more authority than the superintendent and athletics director" was the person behind the mandate to put this kid on the team, dress him, and give him playing time.

unless someone can clarify or come up with a better answer - the only people I know of who have "more authority" than the superintendent is one of the SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS (just as I had suspected).
That greatly narrows the field....

The seven members of the Dunlap (CUSD #323) School Board are:
Dawn Bozeman, President
Dr. Paul Park, Vice President
Beth Rhee, Secretary
Cheryl Bluth
Theresa Holshauser
Brian Zowin
Karen Disharoon

...and as a little additional info - Karen Disharoon is a new member - having been added just this past summer to replace Bruce Hay when he left - and Bozeman was then elected the new President. (Bluth is also new - added in March)
There is a BOARD meeting next Wednesday at the High School (LINK) - should be interesting.

and as long as Pam Adams was the one who brought up the issue of race, then be it noted that only one of the Board members is Black - the President of the School Board

From L to R: P. Park, K. Disharoon, B. Rhee, D. Bozeman, C. Bluth, T. Holshouser, B. Zowin
http://www.dunlapcusd.net/DISTRICT/Pages/BoardofEducation.aspx



BTW- here's an article from 6 months ago detailing the significant turnover and changes in the Dunlap School Board - even sudden and unexpected resignation of member & Presidents, and making note of inexperience, infighting, and ongoing "internal discord", and yet at the same time suggesting a public issue of race in the phrasing of this comment by President Bozeman,
"Bozeman said the new board will be an advantage to the district...“This is a diverse board.."
http://www.pjstar.com/article/20150603/NEWS/150609707

 

[Chico]

Hard to believe pam is the one stirring this up. Ha.

 

[Da Coach]

It is simple social engineering by mindless liberals. Somehow they believe this phony, concocted "diversity" is more important than honesty, integrity, or fairness. It will fail as all such attempts at artificially manufacturing diversity do.

 

[tornado]

I heard a little more last night that might readily clarify this situation...

...to summarize....

..
A person or persons within the district and with more authority than the superintendent
and athletics director..
instructed the superintendent and AD to mandate to the head coach that the former cut player
and team manager be added to the team roster.

...
-Pam Adams reported that the player in question is Black....
Dunlap (CUSD #323) School Board ...Dawn Bozeman, President
...only one of the Board members is Black - the President of the School Board....

so - the talk is that the player that this entire controversy revolves around is also named Bozeman (and btw- his name does appear in the Dunlap box score from last night in the PJStar) and is reportedly the son of the School Board President.

I do not know any of these people personally, nor can I vouch for this info but the main talk was that it is the Black School Board President in a district that is predominately non-minority, that "mandated" her son be put on the team. OK - now I will wait for Pam Adams to give a followup report....betcha it doesn't happen soon.

Now, I have a hard time believing that Pam Adams did not know this - undoubtedly she does - and yet she chose NOT to report the most incredibly important & key fact that the player involved in this power-play, to force the head coach to reinstate a previously cut player onto the team and give him playing time, is apparently, based on conversations I heard last night at a Mid-Illini basketball game, the son of the School Board President. If so, then it is the President of the School Board pulling strings and throwing her weight around to get her kid back on the team. If anyone else knows different or more, lmk....


...also, in the original story & in Lonnie Schwindenhammer's followup - there's no mention ever that any of the parties (the coach, the player, the families, the AD, or the Super) ever "went to the press" or "went public" with this... but several of the parties do apparently speak to Adams and answer her questions.
Pam Adams does not say where she heard about it but all she mentions are "phone interviews" that perhaps she initiated... and a letter she quoted that might have been obtained from any of the parties. She quotes the coach, the coach's attorney, AD Crider, and the Superintendent...so if she quotes them all, you can hardly blame any single party for "going to the press".
Nice that the PJStar offers readers the chance to comment so we can see even more mudslinging. In the end this is a Dunlap problem, and they are going to have to solve it. But as these articles seem to indicate - the Dunlap School Board sure has troubles solving issues - LINK LINK LINK

 

[FlyingSpaghettiMonster]

I went to Dunlap when Barker was the coach. I did not play basketball, but many of my friends did. Barker may not be a good basketball coach, and many would argue that he isn't. He is, however, not a racist. There were black players on the team when I played. Some of the them were not close to starters and barely deserved a roster spot. Even my friends that know and dislike Barker as coach think he's in the right here.

 

[Garland 22]

It is simple social engineering by mindless liberals. Somehow they believe this phony, concocted "diversity" is more important than honesty, integrity, or fairness. It will fail as all such attempts at artificially manufacturing diversity do.

Yeah, there are tons of liberals living Dunlap; I'm sure all those liberal school board members, especially the president, whose husband works for CAT, are behind this. Dunlap the center of liberal terror.

Get a clue dude.

 

[Da Coach]

Yeah, there are tons of liberals living Dunlap; I'm sure all those liberal school board members, especially the president, whose husband works for CAT, are behind this. Dunlap the center of liberal terror.

Get a clue dude.

Who ever said any of that.....
That is called reductio ad absurdum. You try to create an entirely new, phony argument as if someone said it, just to feel better about shouting it down.

Are you denying that liberals want to engineer society the way they see as some utopia? And so far is hasn't worked, and in some cases it is a disaster (just look at the cities run by the most liberal administrations).
All it takes is one person in a position of authority, like we have here, to try to wield power recklessly.

 

[Buesch N Chips]

Doesn't seem to be a black/white issue at all. There are other black kids on the team. Seems the mother of the kid, the school board president, wants her kid on the team. What am I missing?

 

[tornado]

I agree Buesch - and I wonder why the PJS writer Pam Adams even needed to mention the race of any of the parties

 

[Da Coach]

Doesn't seem to be a black/white issue at all. There are other black kids on the team. Seems the mother of the kid, the school board president, wants her kid on the team. What am I missing?

If that was all it was about, they why did the Superintendent and Athletic Director get involved and try to intimidate and muscle the coach into taking the kid back on the team under some phony guise of "diversity"?

And, as you pointed out, the team already has diversity, so why Pam Adams never pointed that out and tried to imply a racism issue is mind boggling. :roll:

 

[Classof77]

If that was all it was about, they why did the Superintendent and Athletic Director get involved and try to intimidate and muscle the coach into taking the kid back on the team under some phony guise of "diversity"?

And, as you pointed out, the team already has diversity, so why Pam Adams never pointed that out and tried to imply a racism issue is mind boggling. :roll:

Just guessing, Coach - they didn't know what else to say? They can't tell the truth, that they're caving in to a school board president to put her kid on the team. Because if the coach goes public with that they look bad. I don't know what else they could come up with as a cover for their actions. It would have been fun to be a fly on the wall as they tried to come up with something. Though certified, I only taught briefly as a sub. My brother in law was a very successful junior high baseball coach at the start of his long teaching career. As in, he won or tied for first every year in his conference. Then wouldn't play a board member's kid one year, and found the coaching duty taken away the next year. Is there a school where that kind of behavior from board members doesn't happen?


Sadly, Pam Adams has always appeared to me to try and find racism in everything.

 

[Chico]

I went to Dunlap when Barker was the coach. I did not play basketball, but many of my friends did. Barker may not be a good basketball coach, and many would argue that he isn't. He is, however, not a racist. There were black players on the team when I played. Some of the them were not close to starters and barely deserved a roster spot. Even my friends that know and dislike Barker as coach think he's in the right here.

Did you play another sport or did I read your post wrong?

 

[AZ BU Fan]

Always Play the Race Card

Always Play the Race Card

I'm shocked, shocked to find racism, and nepotism, alive and well in Dunlap HS Basketball Program & School Administration!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjbPi00k_ME

When is the next Dunlap HS boys bb program fan rally? Will it be as
motivating as the last one:

Feel sorry for the kid involved, he is being taught all the wrong lessons by his parents and by Pam. When in doubt, play the race card...

 

[tornado]

AZ, I know you are being a little cynical..but do you know this...
a really BIG percentage of the growth in Dunlap has been among "minorities"!!

Yup -- in just the past two decades, Dunlap's population and the enrollment in their schools has skyrocketed......
the presumption among many is that all the new people are all white...but that is NOT true....

the growth includes many African-Americans and a surprisingly large number of Asian-Americans who are choosing Dunlap BECAUSE of their excellent schools and their diversity & tolerance...
The district's minority enrollment is now right at about 30-31%
But, of course, this never gets mentioned by the media...

this is way more diverse than some schools in Peoria and East Peoria and yet they have the highest standard testing of any area school!
Metamora (91.3% white), Morton (92.3% white) and Canton (95% white) are way less "diverse" than Dunlap.

 

[FortyTwo]

According to the 2014 school report card, the Dunlap school district is 69.7% white, 17.1% asian and 5.9% black. Can't speak to the racial climate in decades past, but I currently live there and have kids in the district. I can say with a lot of confidence that I've never seen or heard any talk of racism. i would go as far as to say it may be the most blended school district in the area. This feels like 100% nepotism, with the race card thrown down in a very negligent manner.

 

[AZ BU Fan]

Sarcastic, Not Cynical!

Sarcastic, Not Cynical!

AZ, I know you are being a little cynical..

Allow me to put my tongue further in my cheek.

Cynical, no, best described as satirical!

My take on this discussion is nepotism, someone in power wanted their kid to play HS BB at Dunlap and made it happen over the objection of the head coach.

Happens all the time around the country, white, black, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, Bosnian kids, makes no difference. The concept of helping out junior, because you have the power to, is not a new one.

All the diversity and racism smoke appears to be just a cover for what happened. Hence the robe and hood joke of Dunlap... PS I am a former Dunlap area resident before seeing the light (heat?) and retiring to Phx area!

All Dunlap HS supporters care about is WINNING.... Don't care who can help the program be successful.

 

[tornado]

after playing the race card in her initial and only column on this topic at Dunlap (hit & run style), now Pam Adams has gone back into hiding as I expected she would...

Reminiscent of Phil Theobald alleging that Jim Les cheats and plays by the unethical/expedient route - then he retires and they pretend he never said it so they don't have to defend such a horrible slam

 

[mvcfan]

Boy never thought a "Poor Jimmy" reference would make it into a thread with nothing to do with him. Wait nevermind...

Also I'm sure many people of all race are getting out of Peoria if it is financially feasible for them. Good school and still get to be in Peoria without dealing with the violence.