Pine-Richland School Board Schedules Meeting To Review Football Coach Applicants
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - The Pine-Richland School Board has scheduled a special meeting to go through football coach applicants.
It comes after they didn't renew the contracts of former head coach Eric Kasperowicz or his staff, resulting in an uproar and two lawsuits.
A notice sent out Monday says the board scheduled a special meeting for June 2 at 6 p.m. in the high school auditorium. "The purpose of the meeting is to take action on the recommended candidate for varsity head football coach and other potential positions," the notice says.
The school district has made it clear that Kasperowicz will not be coming back but said that assistant coaches could reapply. The coaches KDKA's Bryant Reed have been in contact with say coaching for Pine-Richland is not in their future plans.
One coach says he wants to support Coach K and he doesn't like how the school system handled the situation. Another says school leaders don't want him to be brought on because of his criticism of the school board and administration.
Players have told KDKA's Bryant Reed that football is football. It'll be tough with the changes, but say they're just ready to move on.
The district cited hazing, "rites of passage" and intimidation -- "particularly in the locker room for years" -- among the reasons not to renew Kasperowicz's contract.
The superintendent told KDKA there were also coaching administration issues and Kasperowicz was unwilling to take any responsibility during a meeting with school administrators.
An attorney for Kasperowicz announced earlier this month that he'd be filing two lawsuits over the district's decision. His attorney said while "there undoubtedly has been bullying and hazing at Pine-Richland as in every other school in America," there's no evidence Kasperowicz did anything wrong.
His attorney also accused the board president and superintendent of running a scheme to get rid of Kasperowicz.
Despite efforts to the contrary, the superintendent has said that Kasperowicz will not be getting his job back.
