Superintendent Deborah Flores said she will decide by the end of
this week whether or not to dismiss a Gilroy High girls basketball
coach accused of religious discrimination, harassment and
retaliation by a player’s parents.
”
It’s my decision. It’s a personnel matter. I can discuss the
matter with the board (of education), but the final decision will
be mine,
”
Flores said.
”
A decision will be made by the end of the week.
”
GILROY – Superintendent Deborah Flores said she will decide by the end of this week whether or not to dismiss a Gilroy High girls basketball coach accused of religious discrimination, harassment and retaliation by a player’s parents.
“It’s my decision. It’s a personnel matter. I can discuss the matter with the Board (of Education), but the final decision will be mine,” Flores said.
“A decision will be made by the end of the week.”
Two district investigations into first-year coach Susan Shapiro, the first of which cost Gilroy Unified School District almost $20,000 alone, began with the consent of the board to look into a Feb. 6 complaint of religious discrimination filed by Ed and Lisa Foster, parents of GHS junior Lindsey Foster. The board did not place any restrictions on how much the investigation could cost or how often the board should be updated on the matter.
“I didn’t ask how much is this going to cost,” said trustee Francisco Dominguez, adding that it was more important to “get accurate information.”
The initial investigation, conducted by the district’s legal counsel, Garcia Calderon Ruiz, was completed in mid-April, but the district was forced to begin a second inquiry when the Fosters and Tina Steele, mother of GHS junior Laura Steele, both filed complaints on May 11 alleging Shapiro told another coach at GHS that she intended to cut the players from next year’s team. The Fosters have also filed an appeal to the original investigation’s findings with the California Department of Education.
Dominguez said the board was informed “pretty frequently” throughout both district investigations but not at every meeting.
Trustee Mark Good said it became clear early on that the district would be on the hook for a hefty tab.
“The Fosters, at least, were very aggressive in pursuing this matter, so I knew it would not be an insignificant amount,” he said.
Good added that the serious nature of the original complaint required a serious response. If the district did not delve deeply in the matter, GUSD could have been responsible for a “lawsuit and million-dollar payout.”
Flores said she has sent a letter with the second investigation’s findings to the Fosters, Steele and Shapiro, but she denied The Dispatch’s request for a copy. A Public Records Act request is being filed.
Shapiro said she has not received her copy yet, but Lisa Foster confirmed she has received the investigation’s conclusions. Unwilling to divulge the contents of the letter, Lisa Foster did say, “I’m sure I’ll be happy with the end result.”
Shapiro said she has already been told by GHS Athletic Director Jack Daley her contract to coach the team next season has been renewed.
“I’m not in a position where I think anything is different,” Shapiro said.
Daley was unavailable for comment to confirm this.
Shapiro said she intends to continue acting as the GHS coach when she takes a group of varsity basketball players to a team camp at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas later this month.
Despite the threat of lawsuits coming from both the Fosters and Shapiro if the district rules in the other’s favor, Shapiro said she wants to have Foster back on next year’s team.
