Still learning
Aidala talks about issues after suit

GUILDERLAND — Has anything changed in this well-heeled suburban school district because of the claims of harassment raised against a coach four years ago, or because of the subsequent lawsuits"
Parents raised several issues in 2003 as allegations were made about Coach Deborah Hayes’s sexual harassment of her students. The superintendent of schools, Gregory Aidala, declined this week to speak about a settlement with a family who sued over harassment. However, he agreed to comment "in general terms" on these topics.

Tenure

Deborah Hayes, a physical-education teacher and coach, did not have tenure, a permanent faculty appointment. The school board initially voted, based on a recommendation by Aidala, to extend her three-year probation, rather than fire her.

Aidala had said, four years ago, that he relied on the advice of the high-school principal and the district’s athletic director when making his recommendation to the board.

A parent of a player on one of Hayes’s teams at the time was outraged at the school board’s decision to extend Hayes’s probationary period a year and expressed fear that other students would be subjected to harassment.
"She should be fired," the parent told The Enterprise. "Our board members are supposed to protect our children. They didn’t protect my child."
The parent also said of the relationship between the principal, the athletic director, and Hayes, "They’re all too close; they protect each other. The system hasn’t worked."

The Enterprise asked Aidala this week if the district has reevaluated its tenure-granting process, perhaps to include an outside perspective, a parental perspective, or a peer perspective, particularly in problem cases or in cases where there are strong bonds of friendship between the evaluators and the teacher.
Aidala responded, "The backbone of the Guilderland Central School District is reflected in the quality of our teaching staff."

He said that he would be speaking next week to new teachers in an all-day workshop before school starts and that those same teachers had been attending seminars over the summer.
"Our goal is to help teachers grow professionally and help them to do an outstanding job," said Aidala. "We’re always very careful to give honest, direct feedback to an individual. People are not perfect but the important thing is: Are they growing, advancing""
He went on, to ask himself a rhetorical question, "Have we changed anything in terms of the chain of command" The answer is no. But we’re ever mindful of the importance of the tenure decision."
He then referred to a book he often cites, Good To Great, by Jim Collins, and said, "He talks about getting the right people on the bus. That’s what we do."

Double standard

In letters to The Enterprise editor and in speaking to the school board four years ago, a half-dozen parents indicated there was a double standard that allows coaches to behave differently towards students than teachers and other staff members.
The outside investigator hired by the school district four years ago to investigate the claims of harassment against Deborah Hayes concluded that Hayes did not understand "the power differential between teachers and students and could not de-center from her own perspective and understand how her behavior was being perceived by students, the less powerful individuals in the relationship."
The investigator also found that the so called "team-building" exercise sponsored by Hayes, which led girls to wear notes on their backs labeling them as "slut," "was not thoroughly conceptualized on several levels by Ms. Hayes, who as of our interview, still does not fully comprehend the seriousness of her actions."

John Whipple, the high school principal at the time and a one-time swim coach, responded to Enterprise questions four years ago about the notes by describing the event in a coaching context.
"I used to coach," he said. "When you were getting ready for a big meet, managers would put signs in athletes’ front yards to draw special attention. All of those things were kid-driven""
Whipple said the notes in Hayes’s exercise "were to get kids pumped up for a big game. They would write phrases and put the notes on the backs of teammates"The term ‘slutty’ is the way teenage girls describe themselves, when they dress provocatively."
Whipple said Hayes had been reprimanded and was being monitored, and he said, "The term was offensive but I don’t think it was intended that way." He also said, "I personally feel this was dealt with sufficiently and I’m very surprised we are still addressing this."

This week, The Enterprise asked Aidala if he believed there is a double standard at Guilderland, if coaches are expected to follow the same protocols as classroom teachers, and if the district had had any discussions about it or made any changes in the last four years.
"We have a coaches’ code of conduct," said Aidala. Referring to the athletic director, he went on, "Wayne Bertrand meets with all the coaches and goes over a variety of issues"Respect"is very important."
Aidala went on, "One of the things we’re very proud of at Guilderland is we often win sportsmanship awards, which is a reflection of our coaches."
He said the district had just completed "a very successful season," not just in terms of its win-loss records, but in the high rate of student participation and in students’ having positive experiences.
"Wayne Bertrand and Regan Johnson [the assistant athletic director] work with our coaches, practicing respect on and off the field."

He gave as an example Bob Oates, the long-time cross-country coach. Oates kicked off the season recently with a parent-chaperoned sleep-over for the team in the school gym, said Aidala.
"They started off at 12:01, running laps around the track," he said, and they ended up with a healthy breakfast in the morning. Such activities promote camaraderie, said Aidala, "so every athlete walks away with a positive experience."
He concluded, "Our primary function is to provide quality education and athletics is a part of that."

Parental involvement

Parents complained four years ago that, although they followed the procedures at the school, their complaints were ignored. The Letsons, one of the families that sued, said their daughter was interrogated at school without their even being informed. Several parents said they got no response from school-board members after administrators had ignored complaints.
One parent said the school "circled the wagons" rather than trying to understand how a child had been hurt.
Asked if anything had been changed in the last four years to systematize communications or to insure parents are included and answered, Aidala said, "We welcome parents to come forward and advocate for their children. It’s very important for us to listen."
He went on, "We may not always agree. We try to work things out in the best interest of the students."
Aidala, who is retiring this fall after a 35-year career in education, said, "I’ve always felt the importance of home-school communication"is a high priority." He added, "There is always room for improvement."
Asked specifically if there is now some safeguard in place so that parents are informed if their child is being questioned as part of an investigation, Aidala said, "I think we would call parents if we were dong an investigation."
Asked if the district had learned anything from the Hayes case, Aidala said, "In general — I’ve been a teacher and administrator for more than 35 years — when you have an issue that comes out, there’s always a reason to go back and evaluate how something was handled, what went well, what didn’t go well. Otherwise, we’ll never change or make any improvements."