Hugh Reynolds: Political party time

KHS crew coach Sean Donoghue, at left. (Photo by Phyllis McCabe)

But the issue placed before the school board wasn’t so much about alleged crimes. Very little was said about that, in fact. The issue was due process.

Superintendent Paul Padalino, after receiving reports on the incidents from coaches Scott Johnson and Sean Donoghue (a former crew-team member) and athletic director Glenn Maisch, summarily suspended Maisch and fired Donoghue and Johnson.

Donoghue’s mother, Carrie Donoghue, was having none of that. While deploring the alleged crimes, mother Donoghue reacted almost as vehemently to what she saw as the presumptive dismissal of the coaches and the athletic director.

Very quickly, Donoghue organized the crew and athletic community. And it wasn’t just mothers. Testimony was heard from brothers, sisters, teammates, other athletes and adults. By the time the school board arrived for its monthly session at the Miller School in Lake Katrine, the hallways and meeting room were festooned with protest signs, the room packed with angry protesters. Media, alerted by Mrs. Donoghue, was well represented.

More than a dozen people spoke, about half of them current or former athletes. Maisch’s brother, retired Kingston police detective sergeant Wayne Maisch, was obviously biased. But he spoke for many, judging from the cheers from the crowd, when he accused Padalino of rushing to judgment against men with impeccable records. “This is only the beginning of an investigation,” the veteran ex-cop told the board. “The facts are not in yet.”

Board President Matt McCoy spoke of the hundreds of e-mails and phone calls he said the board had received after the superintendent’s recommended disciplinary actions had been made public.

After two hours of executive session, the board announced its decision. In a stunning reversal, the board by unanimous vote overrode its superintendent — something that almost never happens in any school district — and reinstated the three men. Sources tell me potential legal issues were very much factors in the board’s decision.

Obviously, mistakes of omission were made. Under board policy, volunteer coaches are supposed to be vetted, which in Quick’s case probably would not have made a difference.  He had no record, and there was little reason to suspect he might be a predator. Quick had been on the crew team and was acquainted with some of the upper-class members of the current squad.

Some bitter lessons have been learned. If the coaches were less than diligent and the superintendent acted in haste — as the board judged — he undoubtedly erred on the side of student safety. As McCoy put it, “Safety of our students is our number-one priority.” Unfortunately, for two members of the KHS crew team, that standard was not met.