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Uploaded: Saturday, December 1, 2012, 9:41 PM
Updated: Thursday, December 6, 2012, 7:42 AM
Cal High basketball coach 'forced to resign,' implores school board to change policies
Petition calling for public apology has over 300 signatures
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by Jessica Lipsky
Pleasanton Weekly Staff
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 | In a tearful, impassioned speech to San Ramon Valley Unified's Board of Education, California High School's Bob Donovan implored the school district to change its policies regarding parent complaints.
Donovan, who coached men's varsity basketball for the past two years and from 1983-1990, was allegedly forced to resign amid unsubstantiated accusations.
"Our reputations and careers are not safe in the hands of this district. I respectfully request that you reconsider procedures for addressing complaints," Donovan told the Board.
"You the school board and district administration have the power but need the courage to confront parents when they're wrong, confront them with their lies and support your faculty and staff," he added.
According to his 11-minute speech delivered to the school board during public comment period, Donovan said he was subject to several school-led investigations after anonymous emails called into question his judgment, language and conduct during games and practice.
Donovan was exonerated on all accounts by Cal Principal Mark Corti and later by various school district administrators.
"In 2011 I found myself part of an anonymous and orchestrated campaign to ruin my reputation," he said. "These lies and untrue accusations have turned into libelous harassment and I believe school district officials have a responsibility to support and protect me from this harassment."
"I am at a loss to understand why (the district)has given so much weight to anonymous letters," he said.
A formal complaint was filed with the district last June regarding an incident that occurred in October 2010, when Donovan invited former high school and collegiate basketball coach Michael Phelps to observe an open gym, according to an article in the The Californian, Cal High's student newspaper. Phelps, the article reported, coached Bishop O'Dowd High School in Oakland for nearly 25 years. He was charged in 2003 with lewd and lascivious behavior with a minor for an incident that allegedly occurred in 1966. Charges were dropped that same year.
Although district officials wouldn't comment on the Phelps issue, varsity basketball Team Manager and Cal High senior Oren Abrahams said the incident was reported in retaliation. District officials called Donovan's judgment of the situation questionable and, according to the school board presentation, told him to resign or be fired.
"It was brought up this year because, at the beginning of the summer during the summer league game at Las Positas, Donovan didn't play a kid because he hadn't come to many open gyms or workouts," Abrahams said. "The kid's dad stormed out of his seat and was screaming at Donovan. Ever since that day, it was this dad's mission to get Donovan fired and so somehow he found out about Phelps and emailed it to the board."
In response to the resignation, Abrahams created a petition which calls for the school district to make a public apology for the forced resignation. Abrahams said he and a former Cal student will change the language of the petition soon as Donovan doesn't want a public apology and, instead, would like a change in policy.
"He was a great mentor for me and a great teacher," Abrahams said. "I want to become a coach when I grow up and I really learned from him."
"If parents don't get what they want, then they fight for it and the district doesn't do anything about it and pleases the parents," Abrahams added. "I was kind of just really disturbed by the way this whole thing was handled so I started this petition."
San Ramon Valley Unified officials denied parent involvement as the reason for Donovan's resignation, citing formal complaints sent to the district as well as a number of investigations.
"Parents do not decide the fate of a coach or a teacher or anybody employed in the district," said the district's community relations coordinator Terry Koehne. "That decision rests solely between the employee and the school district. "Do parents have the right to bring forth an issue or complaint? Absolutely, and there are formal procedures for that."
By law, school board members could not respond to Donovan's remarks because they were made during the public comment portion of the agenda. In order to present his case for changing district policy, Donovan or the petition organizers would need to request the issue be placed on a future meeting agenda.
Still, according to The Californian, coach resignations are not uncommon. The student newspaper cited three coaches who resigned or were "forced out" due to similar parent pressure.
they were identified asa women's varsity basketball coach Eghosa Obaiza, varsity baseball coach Dan Ward and former varsity baseball coach and AP Chemistry teacher Brian Coburn. Obaiza told The Californian that she felt unfairly represented in the review process.
"We have a school that systematically does not handle these situations well," said Obaiza, who also teaches English.
Although Donovan is still allowed to teach social studies, he questioned the principles behind the school district's reasoning.
"I was told that I could be trusted to teach 340 students a year," he said. "This hypocrisy itself brings into question the ethics of the district's discussion and the lack of transparency on why I'm not allowed to coach."
Agendas for the Dec. 11 school board meeting are not yet available. Donovan and his supporters may seek a formal agenda item, but Donovan said he will not coach at Cal again.
"Complaints need to be investigated, but once a faculty or staff member is exonerated....there should be some presumption of innocence," he said. "I am not seeking to be reinstated as a basketball coach, given the lack of support from my superiors I wouldn't accept the position if it were offered to me."Are you receiving Express, our free daily e-mail edition? See a sample and sign-up for Express.
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| Comments
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Posted by PMike, a resident of the Highland Oaks neighborhood, on Dec 3, 2012 at 2:33 pm Greater transparency is essential. I would also like to see third-party oversight to insure greater fairness.
Mike
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Posted by Jack, a resident of the Downtown neighborhood, on Dec 3, 2012 at 4:30 pm To those interested in this story, visit this site:
Web Link
A great document whose time has come...
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Posted by Arnie, a resident of the Another Pleasanton neighborhood neighborhood, on Dec 3, 2012 at 4:45 pm Boy, wouldn't it be great if we could get rid of teachers that easily? It would save districts so much money. In a conflict between teachers and parents, the parents should prevail because who knows their children better? Besides, parents aren't in the union, only teachers are.
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Posted by Nancy s., a resident of the Another Pleasanton neighborhood neighborhood, on Dec 3, 2012 at 8:36 pm @arnie are yoy crazy "in a conflict between a teacher and parent the parwnt must prevail". Blood is thicker than water...a parent will always stick up for their kid, especialky uf they are wrong. Parents arw inw sided and biased. The teacher would be a better chouce to side with.
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Posted by Arnie, a resident of the Another Pleasanton neighborhood neighborhood, on Dec 3, 2012 at 8:51 pm Nancy I'm not crazy but thank you for asking but you should learn how to spell. You miss my point. The poor taxpaying parent is at the mercy of our corrupt union-protected teachers. What recourse do parents have when the teacher goes into meetings backed up by a couple of strong-arm union thugs? That gives teachers power, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Hence, the charges the teacher is bringing against the student are almost always lies, and probably instigated by the unions just to prove how powerful they are against defenseless, taxpaying parents. Your right blood is thicker than water. That's why I support the parents. It's time blood stood up to water so that we can stop the flood of unaccountable teacher decisions. It's reached tsunami proportions. You've all been forewarned!
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Posted by Arnie, a resident of the Another Pleasanton neighborhood neighborhood, on Dec 3, 2012 at 11:06 pm Let Sarah Palin say it better then I. With unionization comes collectivism. And that's socialist. And what comes after socialism? Communism. And that's what's at steak here. Being American is defending ourselves as parents against the communist teachers and basketball coaches.
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Posted by huh, a resident of the Charter Oaks neighborhood, on Dec 4, 2012 at 9:06 am My basketball coach was a communist?
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Posted by hot air, a resident of the Amador Estates neighborhood, on Dec 4, 2012 at 9:10 am Arnie is a tough guy
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Posted by Basketball Fan, a resident of the Birdland neighborhood, on Dec 4, 2012 at 1:57 pm If no one ever listened to the parents..well tell that to Penn State. I don't know who is right or wrong here but I do know I have witnessed coaches speaking to boys on these teams so disgracfully during practices when no parents were around to witness. When I was a kid, my coach was my inspiration. Sadly a lot of teachers get these coaching jobs because they need the extra money. This story seems like something isn't right here. I don't think the entire story is being told.
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Posted by Jack, a resident of the Downtown neighborhood, on Dec 4, 2012 at 6:28 pm I'm taking the story at face value. 99% of all parental gripes about coaches can be traced back to playing time...
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Posted by Arnie, a resident of the Another Pleasanton neighborhood neighborhood, on Dec 4, 2012 at 10:05 pm When you kid's teacher or coach is a communist, it's kind of hard to think his bad grades or lack of playing time isn't the result of destinked political bias. We know these liberals (communists in sheepskins) all have an agenda. If that involves making some freedom-loving kids the scapegoat, that's just part of the agenda. There isn't much difference between sitting on the end of the bench after being shamed by a coach who puts the communist team over the individual and being sent away to a Gulag. Kobe Bryant was lucky enough to escape this because he didn't go to college. All of this collective communist takeoverism will be preceded by a tsunami of epic proportions.
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Posted by Jan, a resident of the Gatewood neighborhood, on Dec 6, 2012 at 9:54 am I can't believe all of the negativity about teacher's unions. After being a teacher
for 30 years I am totally in favor of the union. My thought for those of you who
think that teachers are out to get your children volunteer for a day in a few classrooms.
Sit back and observe the children and teachers. Make sure to ask a couple of teachers
about how much time they spend each week planning and preparing for their students.
Also, ask them how much time they spend at home correcting, recording grades, developing
curriculum for their students. Arrive early to see how many teachers are at school
working long before the first bell and long after the closing bell.
Teachers and Coaches are there because they want to teach their students. Take a look
at their salaries. They definitely are not there to get rich. Most teachers and coaches
have a real desire to work hard with your children to help them develop better skills.
As most teachers are women union representation has been necessary to protect
the teacher. Both teachers and coaches spend many extra hours preparing for your
children. This time is never paid for.
I find the many references to communism disrespectful and disgusting to say the
least.
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Posted by mooseturd, a resident of the Pleasanton Valley neighborhood, on Dec 6, 2012 at 10:07 am
mooseturd is a member (registered user) of PleasantonWeekly.com Jan, Your post is off the point.
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Posted by Arnie, a resident of the Another Pleasanton neighborhood neighborhood, on Dec 6, 2012 at 10:16 am Hey Jan, you forgot to cite Mao's Little Red Book and Marx's Communist Manifestoed. Because behind all that fluff about teaching for peanuts stands a very powerful union that has financed communist subversive operations like Acorn which stole the election for Obama in 2008 and 2012. The thought of letting you and your ilk teach my kids is enough to make me gag. What is it with you people? Your a perfect example of why parents should have the right to get teachers fired.
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Posted by Mike, a resident of the Another Pleasanton neighborhood neighborhood, on Dec 6, 2012 at 1:52 pm Arnie, I am about as libertarian as you can get, but even I have to say that you are way off base. Just as Teachers are not always wrong, parents are not always right. As a long time youth coach, classroom volunteer and general observer I agree with the sentiment that 98% of these issues come down to playing time. Parents with an unrealistic opiniom of their child's ability, in anything, are not rational. I don't have a problem with the teacher, or their union standing up for themselves. This would be a good use of the teacher's union dues.
The union is not the problem. The problem is the legislature and legal system that allowed the union power pendulum to swing so far to the left. However, the solution is not to swing back an equally absured distance to the right.
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