Editor’s note: The following opinion column was submitted for publication by Board of Education member Robert Harrington.
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On Saturday, my fellow Board of Education member and Democratic Candidate for First Selectman, Kevin Christie wrote an opinion piece for Westport Journal about the ongoing SoccerGate coaches controversy.
Kevin is a good man and a fine community member who generously volunteers his time. However, his opinion piece unfortunately contained only empty words and meaningless platitudes.
Robert Harrington
I still don’t know where he stands on this important issue – beyond wanting to have a discussion about policy after it’s all over.
He continues to avoid taking a position. I support a person’s right to recuse themselves, but his connection to the various Westport soccer coaches seems tangential and remote at best.
Kevin Christie wants to have his cake – and eat it, too. He wants to be a leader, but without displaying leadership.
Kevin wrote, “I believe we can move forward constructively.” He then praises our coaches and stated, “I have the utmost respect for the entire Westport soccer community.”
Given this positive commentary, a simple yet key question remains unanswered: “Does Kevin Christie stand together with Coach Russell Oost-Lievense and support his reinstatement?”
It is a yes or no question, and not more complicated than that. There is no third answer.
Kevin states that he wants the Board of Education policy committee to review the existing policies and consider whether, “improvements are warranted.” That should be easy as Kevin Christie is the Head of the Board of Education Policy Committee.
But these words sadly ring hollow – and are too little, too late.
Being a leader requires providing clear answers. Asking to be the leader for the entire town of Westport demands even more.
This is way bigger than simply calling for a policy committee review. Kevin, like his Board of Education colleagues, is clearly trying to engage in damage limitation.
Kevin wrote in his opinion piece that, “Moving forward is about doing the hard, necessary work of governance, in part to ensure our community can have confidence in how decisions are made.”
Kevin, that is precisely that point. This community does NOT have confidence in how this decision was made. As a sitting board member, I don’t have any confidence in both the completeness of the investigation, and the overall decision that was made.
So, I have 5 simple questions for Kevin Christie to help us all move forward:
- Will you be at the next non-renewal hearing for freshman coach Chris O’Dell on June 2 or are you recusing yourself for this hearing, too? If so, what is your connection to this coach?
- Do you think the investigation into the soccer coaches was thorough and complete?
- Do you have confidence in Athletic Director VJ Sarullo and his handling of this situation and the overall thoroughness of the investigation?
- As Chair of the Board of Education Policy Committee can you explain or justify why there is no coach’s handbook?
- Do you support all relevant witnesses and written evidence being considered in non-renewal hearings for both Coach Russell Oost-Lievense and Coach Chris O’Dell?
The Westport Community would benefit from these questions being answered.
Westport can’t “move forward” unless elected representatives like Kevin Christie clearly state where they stand.
Let Westport move forward for sure ! Towards Commencement and the next soccer season. The job of the Board of Education is to supervise, on behalf of Westport, this large collection of schools and administration. And while it is nice that we have an excellent sports program at Staples it is not the tail that wags the dog here. Or it shouldn’t be ! That some adult and a student got into a heated discussion, fight, whatever at a team building outing would not be prevented by a handbook for coaches. The freshman soccer coach will get his hearing and probably half the interested participants will not be happy but let’s move on.
This thinly veiled partisan attack is not helpful to the current situation. Pouring partisan gas on the fire is not an act designed to resolve matters. This is not a display of good judgement from Mr. Harrington.
Seriously. While Mr. Christie can fairly be subject to criticism – and deserves all that he gets – the local GOP (what’s left of it) is going so over-the-top that their motives seem a little suspect. (Mr Haberstroh’s suggestion yesterday that Mr Christie could have recused himself from the vote but still participated in the discussion was rather baffling. It’s not just about the vote but about influencing the conversation.) Mr. Christie’s excuse seems pretty flimsy and I personally think he seemed to be ducking a controversial topic. One need not suggest more than that.
And while no disrespect toward the soccer coach is intended, it would be nice to see the BOE focusing on the E – education.
In that spirit, I’d love to hear Mr Harrington, a proud Trump-supporting Republican, answer some of my own broader education-policy related questions (the other GOP member of the BOE can also feel free to chime in):
1. Do you support the Republican administration’s slashing funding for Head Start, a program that largely benefits underserved communities?
2. Do you support the Republican administration’s gutting of school nutrition programs? While Westport might not be a big beneficiary, these programs help children who, through no fault of their own, need the help.
3. Do you support the Republican administration’s crackdown on free speech on campus? Mr Harrington praised Staples students over their walkout over the soccer coach. I can’t believe he would think that universities should lose Federal grants because students protest governments that participate or aid in committing genocide? Is only conservative free speech allowed?
4. Do you think any federal tax dollars that are dedicated to public K-12 education should be funneled private (religious) schools?
5. Do you think that the Republican administration should be attempting to ban international students attending Harvard? As someone who has expressed concerns over trade deficits and who supports Trumps tariffs, isn’t the $44 billion dollars that international students spend an effective influx of money from elsewhere. That dollar amount would be the equivalent of our ninth largest export category.
6. Our university research departments are one of the engines of our economy, because of the innovations that come from them. Do you support the Republican administration’s attempt at slashing federal dollars going into research on our campuses?