Former TF South coach's transfer spurs protest

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BY GREGORY TEJEDA
Times Correspondent | Friday, May 30, 2008 | (19 comment(s))

CALUMET CITY | The transfer of a former baseball coach at Lansing's Thornton Fractional South High School to another school has sparked a grievance, School Board officials said.

At its monthly meeting Tuesday, the Thornton Fractional Township High School District 215 School Board dealt with the questions and complaints it has received over the past month regarding the disciplinary action against Ken Reynolds.

Reynolds is now a faculty member at the district's Center for Academics and Technology in Calumet City, District 215 Superintendent Creg Williams said.

This summer, the School Board will address the grievance, which the teachers union filed on Reynolds' behalf, Williams said, adding the process could stretch into the fall.

Citing personnel issues, David Shrader, president of the American Federation of Teachers Local 683, said he couldn't confirm if a grievance has been filed on Reynold's behalf.

Reynolds declined Wednesday to comment on the matter.

In April, the School Board approved unspecified disciplinary action against two TF South staff members. Williams identified one as Reynolds, TF South's dean of students, assistant athletic director and baseball coach, who had planned to return next school year as an English teacher.

Following the decision, School Board and district officials cited an ongoing investigation but did not confirm publicly that Reynolds was the subject of an Illinois Department of Children and Family Services review or elaborate on the accusations that led to the disciplinary action.

But in response to questions and complaints over the past month, School Board President Debbie Waitekus read Tuesday a public statement drafted on behalf of the School Board by its attorneys.

The statement did not mention anyone by name, referring to an incident between a young female athlete and a "boy's athletic coach." The incident involved inappropriate conversation and behavior that "failed to recognize appropriate boundaries between staff and students," according to the statement.

The "boy's athletic coach" admitted to certain behavior, was removed from his coaching duties for the rest of the school year and was transferred to another building following a suspension, the statement said.

School officials did not refer the matter to police, although they notified the DCFS, which conducted a review of the incident.

DCFS officials on Wednesday would not comment on their review.

School Board officials said they believe they met their "legal responsibility" after conducting their own investigation and hearing the conclusions of the state, the statement said.

"After conducting a thorough investigation, the administration and the board believed that the girl’s story was true, and disciplined the coach. ... Another student witness has come forward and has corroborated the incident," the statement said. "The (School) Board has also learned that various parents who were friends of the athletic coach have harassed the young lady’s parents and friends.

"They have steadfastly demanded that the young lady recant her story for the betterment of the coach. ... The Board of Education will not tolerate such behavior and will pursue all of its remedies to protect students in the school system."

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lansing good old boys wrote on Jun 2, 2008 9:07 PM:

" I thinks this is a terrible thing i feel so bad for the girl that has to go threw this and for all you low lifes in politics that keep trying save a buddy i sure hope it doesnt happen this time .Give him the punishment and make a crimnal serve his time "

You People Scare Me wrote on May 31, 2008 6:24 AM:

" A least read the article above before commenting on it..."another student witness has come forward and has corroborated the incident"...'The "boy's athletic coach" admitted to certain behavior'.
Keep this guy away from our kids!! "

fafa wrote on May 30, 2008 10:59 PM:

" I find it to be shameful the way so many of you hide behind your psuedo names and make inflammatory and libel remarks against a member of our community. Shame on you. Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty. The only intelligent posting here is the one identified by the name TMJ. The rest of you need to practice charity. "

fafa wrote on May 30, 2008 10:45 PM:

" The only person who has made an intelligent contribution to this posting is the one who identies him/herself as TMJ. The rest of you should go away and get some brains. "

Appalled wrote on May 30, 2008 8:36 PM:

" I am appalled at all the attempts by adults to twist the facts every way possible to convince themselves that Ken Reynolds did nothing wrong. Everyone was clamoring for truth. Now they have it and they still want to believe this young lady got it wrong. How about accepting the facts as facts and dealing with them. An adult behaved inappropriately, knows it, knew better, put himself in this position and has to deal with consequences. "

Jameson wrote on May 30, 2008 7:55 PM:

" Calling the superintendant a "flunkie" is just a disrespectful way of showing your bias. TF South has been in a downward spiral long before the administration was changed. Dean Reynolds was a large part of this problem. When an administrator has different punishments for the same infraction, he has created his own demise. This has been happening way too long at TFS. "

To TMJ wrote on May 30, 2008 3:59 PM:

" I am not sure, Is it a compliment when a male teacher tells a female student that she has a very nice athletic body, while he has his arm around her? Is that something you find appropriate? I am sorry but I think the man should be fired and never allowed to be around children in a classroom environment again! It really amazes me to read how parents would let their children chastise a fellow student that came forward and make a complaint that she felt she was offensive. I can only pray that these parents have installed the courage in their children to do the same if God forbid anything like this should happen to them. What happen to zero tolerance? If the entire school board agreed to remove the “coach” from his job, then something inappropriate was said, don’t you think? Why would he agree to any kind of punishment if he felt he did no wrong? Why would he agree to any kind of punishment if he felt he did no wrong? Finally what in the world dose the young girl have to gain by making a false complaint? "

Apologies Are In Order wrote on May 30, 2008 3:47 PM:

" Now that the season has ended, none of you will care nearly as much about the fate of this man. He will no longer be running the team. They will be hiring a whole new man and a whole new coaching staff. Let me include you into reality…Whoever the new coach is, he won’t be from Lansing. He won’t care that you own an insurance company in town. He won’t care about what grade school you teach at because his wife won’t be teaching with you. He won’t care what has gone on in Babe Ruth. A new coach will care about putting the best players on the field – no matter who mommy and daddy are. This situation might be a little grim for those averaging 3 errors a game, giving up bombs, or letting pop ups drop in front of their faces. So I can now see why you all tried to fight.
The truth is out. He lied to you all. Good Luck and God Bless. "

Apologies Are In Order wrote on May 30, 2008 3:46 PM:

" Let’s start from the top down. You owe the new super, his secretary, and the school board an apology for blaming them for ridiculous accusations of a witch hunt when they were simply carrying out the laws. He should, in actuality, be arrested. You owe the softball coaches and their families apologies. That father built that baseball field for Ken, and got him out of a tremendous amount of trouble. He did so out of his own goodness, not because he foresaw Ken being inappropriate with a high school girl and thought it would be a great way to get his kid to be the head baseball coach. Those two softball coaches stood by what was right, not what was popular opinion. And most importantly, you owe a colossal apology to this girl and her family. She did the right thing. Her speaking up has lead to multiple others speaking up. She has been through more distress at a high school age than most of you have in your whole lives, all so that your kid can be a starter on a “state bound” team. "

Apologies Are In Order wrote on May 30, 2008 3:45 PM:

" This message is to all of the baseball parents that supported Ken and harassed a high school girl and her family….To all the parents who went to school board meetings to fight for what was “right”….To an ex-baseball coach, a legend if you will, who once had class…To parents who have called the girl’s house and demanded the truth….To a crazy mother who had the audacity to speak to the board on behalf of the girl’s family as if she could ever have the sophistication or class that family has…..To the individuals who set up meetings at local grammar schools to “clear the air”….To parents who allow their kids to run around TFS repeating to my kid the ridiculous conversations they are overhearing at home…To the head of politics in Lansing….To the individuals threatening a high school principal….And to any individual thinking sexual conversation and behaviors coming from a Dean of Students at a high school toward a female athlete is appropriate an justified as a nice compliment – You should be humiliated by your own behaviors and you owe many people apologies. "

Baseball Fan wrote on May 30, 2008 2:33 PM:

" Are you kidding me? The school board does every thing BUT mention Kenny by name! Why not bring out that the alleged "victim" JD be brought to justice for fabricating a tale! She can get ANYONE to coroborate her story...Remember folks....as far as sexual harassment goes, one man's HAND SHAKE is another woman's GROPE! The guy is obviously NOT GUILTY of the allegations or else he would be sitting in a guest room on 170th! GROW UP PEOPLE open your eyes and realize what is going on! The school board is just trying to show a little backbone...to which the Union has none! "

DJ wrote on May 30, 2008 2:14 PM:

" Since he is a member of the teacher's union, a grieveance has been or will be filed on his behalf.
A school cannot terminate any employee who is a member of the union without going through the proper steps and procedures...This will now be decided by the system. "

Lurker wrote on May 30, 2008 2:10 PM:

" Don't let the facts get in the way of your uninformed comments. The facts are the incident involved shockingly inappropriate physical contact and comments from a faculty member to a student, not a misconstrued compliment...hint: read the board's statement.
The truth is, that good ole boy isn't as good as his cronies think. "

TMJ wrote on May 30, 2008 1:29 PM:

" I heard a lot from South teachers and insiders at the school alike. I've known the man almost 20 years myself and for those who know what was said will probably agree that the statement was accurate, but it was taken out of context and deemed offensive. We all know how everybody is so brittle nowadays, even when being complimented.

Discipline was enacted by the administration to appease the public. Think about it, if he was a threat he wouldn't be around, case closed. I find it hard to believe that those closest to this situation all seem to think something is not right as well. I really think you can expect a grievance or a lawsuit to follow, just a hunch.

Oh well, just another issue the board and administration can deal with instead of cleaning house of one another and getting people in that can acutally manage a school budget and focus on district performance. Thank god we have a CPS flunkie in house that is constantly absent from his position seeking out other opportunities. Heads up, welcome to the new Chicago Public School system of failure and no responsibility from the administration "

lansing parent wrote on May 30, 2008 11:46 AM:

" I have to ask why is he being transfered to another school where he will continue his bad behavior. Why not take his teaching license away, so it doesn't happen again. It is the same old story. The good old boys take care of each other. "

Rebel wrote on May 30, 2008 10:09 AM:

" If he did something wrong, why can't the board fire him? If they can't fire him, perhaps he didn't really do anything wrong! This stinks of a witch hunt by an angry superintendent to me! "

Concerned Parent wrote on May 30, 2008 7:56 AM:

" For those who were not at the board meeting this past Tuesday to hear the statement read, I would encourage you to seek out the entire statement, which is now part of the public record, and digest the truth.
After hearing the truth, those in our fine community who chose to pursue a tactic of harassment and intimidation against an innocent student ought to be ashamed of themselves.
The student did the right thing, and has taught us a lesson in courage and dignity. Unlike those that chose to attack her without knowing the facts, for the sake of playing time for their kids. "

Idiots wrote on May 30, 2008 6:41 AM:

" How dare adults harass a child about what a so called "responsible" adult may have done or said to them!!! "

Hampton wrote on May 30, 2008 6:27 AM:

" Why has he been transfered? I hope there are no female students in his new "building". "

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