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Health & Fitness

Why would Berlin coaches fear reprisals from the BOE?

In the New Britain Herald article, "Berlin Coaches Want Probe of School Board President", published on February 9, 2014, Jim Day, who has been serving as the spokesman for BICA (the newly formed Berlin Interscholastic Coaches Association) stated,

"People are afraid to step up and say what's on their minds in fear of reprisal...Essentially I've been picked as the spokesman because I'm retired and the only thing I'm doing is coaching wrestling.  So if they want to remove me, they remove me."

It was also mentioned in that same article that "a member of BICA's council...spoke on the condition of anonymity...."

Before Jim Day spoke to the Herald and made that comment about a fear of reprisal, the letter from the coaches to the Board of Education and Town Council appeared on the Berlin Patch.  The letter as it appeared on the Berlin Patch was simply signed, "BICA Council", with not one personal signature attached.  Customarily a representative of any organization or association would sign a letter, including one's title.

If the letter was in fact submitted to the Board of Education and Town Council without personal signatures of any coaches, why didn't any of the coaches sign that letter?  If what Jim Day said is true--that the coaches are afraid to identify themselves for fear of reprisals--why would as many as seventy-four (74) coaches fear reprisals?  Do as many as seventy-four individuals fear losing their jobs as coaches for speaking out on the alleged complaint as reported in their letter?  What kind of an environment has the Board of Education conveyed to these coaches?

Coaches are not, by temperament, "wusses".  They have been prepared to be tough with people.  And Boards of Education typically consist of well-educated and professional citizens, including those from academia.  Ordinarily one would expect the members of a Board of Education to be intelligent, tolerant, open, respectful, courteous, honest, sincere, impartial, and ethical.  After all, do we not entrust to members of a Board of Education not only the majority of our tax dollars, but, even more importantly, the education and future well-being of our children?

Consequently, after reading the BICA letter and the Herald article, one may be left with the lingering questions:  

Why would as many as seventy-four (74) coaches fear reprisals from the Board of Education, as reported by Jim Day in the Herald article, if members of Boards of Education are expected to possess intelligence, an advanced education, a sense of professionalism, a respect for others, a tolerance for differing viewpoints, an openness to communication, excellent critical thinking skills, the courage for independent thinking, the utmost courtesty, an impartiality of judgment, a sincerity of purpose, the highest degree of integrity and honesty, and an impeccable code of ethics?

Have there been reprisals in the past from the Board of Education?

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