Storm clouds loom over Scotia-Glenville athletics program (2024)

The change.org petition comes on the heels of two months of contentious school board meetings, during which sharp criticism has been leveled by parents and student-athletes at Athletic Director Jamian Rockhill and various facets of the district’s athletics program. Public discord over the program reached a crescendo after varsity football coach Bob Leto abruptly resigned three weeks into the season and district officials were mostly mum about his departure.

“Throughout Mr. Rockhill’s tenure as athletic director, there have been numerous avoidable issues that have led to the decline in student participation, athletes getting injured, and embarrassment in performance across many programs,” the petition calling for his resignation reads in part.

Since being launched Nov. 8, the petition has netted 370 signatures and has shown no sign of losing steam. The petition was started by a district parent after a series of four school board meetings this fall that were dominated by complaints about the program’s culture.

Both the petition and those speaking at board meetings have backed a clear intention: an “immediate change” that would involve stripping Rockhill of his title and duties as athletic director.

“We would like an athletic director who wants the best for our student athletes, our community and the future,” the petition concludes.

Rockhill initially responded to an email from The Daily Gazette seeking comment, but ultimately did not speak on the petition or any of the concerns regarding the athletic program.

Meanwhile, district officials appear to be supportive of him going forward, and he is expected to be part of an all-new district “athletics council” announced this past week by Superintendent Susan Swartz.

The athletics council, Swartz said, will be tasked with charting a course forward rather than focusing on what’s wrong.

“We have certainly spent a good deal of time over the last month, month-and-a-half, talking about concerns around our athletic programs,” Swartz said in announcing the council. “Those conversations, I think, have led to certainly some frustration on both sides or every side, since there are people in different spots around this conversation.”

The athletics council will be composed of a diverse group of individuals, Swartz said.

“The council will be made up of myself, three or four coaches, at least one of whom will be a female coach, a representative from our board of education, a community sports rep, a [diversity, equity and inclusion] committee representative, a booster club representative, at least one of my secondary administrators, two students would be my hope and, of course, [Rockhill] will be part of that group,” she said.

“The purpose will be to respond to some of the things that I’ve been hearing pretty clearly, such as we don’t provide coaches enough support for them to be successful when they’re coaching,” Swartz added. “So, mentoring coaches, how do we do that? Professional development for all of our coaches. Coaches have professional development that they must attend: CPR, first aid, all of those things.”

To ensure a successful start to the process, Swartz said, the district will bring in an outsider to guide the committee.

“I’m going to bring in an outside facilitator because I think there is so much friction, if you will, between folks in the district and folks in the community that we need a levelheaded outside resource who can facilitate those meetings,” she said.

COMMUNICATION

At the school board’s Oct. 28 meeting, Kristen Miller, a parent of a football player, spoke specifically about how district officials handled the cancellation of the junior varsity football season.

According to Miller and others who spoke at recent board meetings, players who signed up to play JV football were told to practice and dress with the varsity team, but not much else was made clear regarding what to expect out of the 2024 season.

“When the JV season was canceled, the parents were not notified,” Miller said. “There was not any information given to us. There was not a game plan for the future. All we were told was that the kids were to dress for all the varsity games.”

She explained that communication was done entirely through the players.

“When we have more questions than the kids are able to answer and we reach out to the AD or superintendent, we’re literally left with crickets,” Miller said. “Parents have scheduled meetings with the superintendent and at the last minute the superintendent’s secretary calls them to cancel those meetings.”

Following Miller’s comments, school board President Hal Talbot said to the audience, “If you’re emailing anybody, please include the board on those emails so we are aware of what’s going on as well.”

Christine Lemp, another parent of a current football player who noted her regular involvement with the program, said she had no idea the JV team wasn’t playing until it was mentioned at the Oct. 28 meeting.

In response to questions from the Gazette, Swartz said the coaching staff did the best it could in terms of communications after it became apparent the JV team simply didn’t have enough players to remain viable.

“The JV football team started the year off with 18 members,” she said in an emailed response. “By [New York State Public High School Athletic Association] rules, schools need 16 members to have a scrimmage. We scrimmaged Week 1, then after some injuries we were below 16 eligible students, therefore we were unable to play the next two weeks.”

“After Week 4, the coaching staff and Mr. Rockhill made the decision to fold the season, due to our team not being able to consistently field 16 players to scrimmage,” Swartz added.

“Coaches kept the team informed as we continued to work to provide a varsity season and moved the JV students up to varsity,” she wrote. “Finally, our coaches will not play a student-athlete in a varsity football game if they feel the student is not ready and may get hurt, which did result in some players getting little playing time.”

“As superintendent, I recognize this was a less than ideal situation,” Swartz added, “but believe we provided the best opportunities we could for our students given the changes in coaching staff.”

Miller and Lemp both also expressed fears of retaliation during their comments.

“I want to say, I’ve been very hesitant to say anything, because I’ve been told by a handful of people that me saying anything puts a black mark against my kid,” Miller said at the Oct. 28 meeting. “I just want to go on record saying that that’s been told to me.”

Another individual who recently spoke out contacted The Daily Gazette, specifically requesting not to be named in this story due to fear of retaliation, even though they had already spoken at a public meeting.

Swartz responded to those concerns in her statement.

“I have been superintendent here for more than a decade. In that time, I have heard folks say this but when I have had the opportunity to speak with them, [I] was unable to identify any actual instances of retaliation by a staff member against a child,” the superintendent wrote. “As a member of the community, I take my responsibility to my students and their families seriously.

“I live here, too, and want this to be a welcoming and supportive place for all of us. If I were to be made aware of any situation of this sort, I would promptly conduct an investigation and act on its findings.”

Concerns regarding communication were not exclusive to football. Another issue raised pertained to multiple players missing the first day of tryouts for the girls’ modified volleyball team because they were never informed of when they needed to show up.

There were also comments made by individuals who spoke of previous meetings with district officials, as they sought improved communication or to resolve other issues.

“Each team or activity my kids have been a part of has used a different medium to communicate,” Kevin Sullivan, a parent and former Scotia-Glenville coach, said at the board’s Nov. 4 meeting.

During the superintendent’s comments at the same meeting, Swartz announced that the district would be utilizing a program called Student Square as a means for coaches and teachers to have a universal method of communication with students.

The superintendent confirmed that it is still the plan to roll out Student Square for the upcoming winter sports season, and that Rockhill and the school’s information technology director recently led a training session for the program.

“The switch is in everyone's best interest so I am hoping the roll-out goes smoothly,” Swartz said.

All district coaches, regardless of whether or not they are a teacher in the district, will have access to the system, Swartz said. Additionally, parents and guardians will be able to receive the same messages students receive from coaches and teachers.

Sullivan, who coached girls’ modified basketball last season, offered a suggestion to improve the district’s gym-reservation system. He detailed a situation where he had to contact every other coach directly in order to change a practice time because he was unable to find a physical copy of the schedule.

Sullivan also said that he found out he was no longer going to be a coach for the upcoming season, from the program’s new girls’ varsity coach.

“On Sept. 28, I spoke with the new girls’ basketball coach and he shared his vision for the program and how he needed to carry it out with coaches he already had a working relationship with. His vision sounds fantastic, and very promising,” Sullivan said. “There was a prerequisite, that must have been approved by the athletic director, with no communication to any of the remaining coaches, that they were not going to be a part of the upcoming season. As I stand up here tonight, I have never heard anything directly from the athletic director.”

Wally Bzdell, a former Scotia-Glenville parent and ice hockey coach, spoke of similar frustrations.

“Before an awards ceremony, with one of my sons winning an award, we got a phone call at home the day before, saying to show up,” Bzdell said. “In that phone call, my wife was also told that the administrator did not really like my philosophy on playing time. I would think that would be something you would say to me, not to my wife in a phone call. My son was told the same information in school. Not to me, but to my son.”

Bzdell claimed that Scotia-Glenville never asked him for a practice plan or had an administrator attend a practice to offer feedback.

Another parent, Carl DiCesare, expressed his frustration throughout his attempts to start a youth wrestling program in affiliation with the district.

“Two years ago, I met with the athletic director with two other parents. We proposed a pee wee wrestling program for Scotia,” DiCesare said. “We came prepared with an outline and with recommendations. We showed a sample practice plan. We were never followed up with after that initial meeting.”

DiCesare and others then returned to the Burnt Hills youth wrestling program.

“The Scotia-Glenville athletic department connects the varsity coaches and the youth sports program representatives,” Swartz wrote in her statement to the Gazette. “We have held virtual meetings to bring the two parties together and, at times, have had an active [council] comprised of representatives of both groups. The PE/AD office uses Master Scheduler to help the district support the youth programs by making information about their contests available.”

FIELD HOCKEY EXPERIENCE

During the Oct. 28 school board meeting, Scotia-Glenville junior Kaya Kinney spoke about her experience on the field hockey team this season.

She described an allegedly toxic team environment that led her to ultimately quit and file a Dignity for All Students Act complaint against head coach Angelo Malone.

She referred to her experience playing for Malone as “bullying and harassment from a grown man,” detailing alleged threats of canceling the season due to poor play. She also shared a question Malone allegedly posed to certain players during a practice on Sept. 6.

“He asked certain players another question,” Kinney said. “If this were a game of ‘Survivor,’ who would you want off of the island and why?

“After this question, many of my teammates were uncomfortable, and felt singled out. One of my teammates even made up a signal to her parents about when our coach was making her feel uncomfortable, and to come get her from the field. … Another teammate told me during school they were scared to go to practice out of fear of punishment from the coach.”

Swartz provided her view on the situation.

“On Friday, 9/6 there was an issue at the varsity girls field hockey practice. Several parents and student-athletes were upset with an activity that was part of the practice plan,” she wrote. “The coach used the activity as a team-building exercise, but it was not received by some students/families that way. Once aware of that, the coach apologized to the team. A DASA report was filed and thoroughly investigated by human resources. The results of that investigation were shared with both the individuals who filed the complaint and the coach.”

Ultimately, Kinney felt that her concerns were not heard by district officials, either through meetings with the athletic director or through the DASA report, prompting her to speak out publicly.

“I am asking the board to do anything to improve the DASA protocol to protect those who make such serious claims, so that we don’t have to be subjected to the continuous behaviors of a grown man, and making sure you’re approving proper and qualified coaches,” Kinney said. “From a young age, I’ve always been taught, if you see something, say something. So, I’m saying something.”

THE TANNER SCALE

During the school board’s Sept. 23 meeting, a concern was raised about the athletic department’s use of the Tanner scale as the determining factor in the athletic placement policy.

When middle-school students are looking to participate on a junior varsity or varsity team, they need to pass various athletic placement tests to ensure they are capable of competing against significantly older student-athletes.

Six individuals spoke out against the use of the Tanner scale at the board meeting, including a current district soccer coach and various parents.

The five-point Tanner scale tracks a person’s physical development during puberty, and its use can have an adverse impact, especially on girls, of being able to compete on teams at higher scholastic levels than their current age.

“We’ve had several kids through several different sports that have been denied the opportunity to play up to what their potential could be based on a policy that none of us can really find written down or approved,” said Steve Gerke, the district’s boys’ modified soccer coach. “The policy, from what we’ve been told … I’m calling it a guideline because I can’t find it, it is heavily dependent on an athlete’s Tanner score.”

At the meeting, community members questioned what the district’s athletic placement policy actually was and noted how the New York State Department of Education changed its requirements several years ago to no longer require the Tanner scale. Some parents also raised concerns about the district’s transparency regarding the athletic placement process, noting that they cannot find necessary details on the Scotia-Glenville schools’ website.

“Mr. Rockhill, our school physicians and I met on October 22 to discuss the use of the Tanner score in the APP process. We are working toward a new protocol whereby a parent/guardian can request an override of the Tanner score if their student meets all other requirements,” Swartz wrote. “The override will most likely consist of a sign-off on a document explaining how the Tanner score is interpreted and used. For the record, though, the Tanner score is optional. [NYSPHSAA] does encourage its use.”

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