Massachusetts high school investigating athletic program

A Massachusetts high school plans to investigate its sports program after the outgoing athletic director made claims of discrimination and misuse of funds within the department.

Wayland High School, nearly 20 miles west of Boston, will look into the allegations while also enlisting the help of state and federal agencies, according to the Boston Globe. Athletic Director Stephen Cass, whose contract is not being renewed by the district, wrote a letter to the superintendent claiming he found “many disturbing practices” going on within the athletic program.

From the Boston Globe:

In his May 19 letter, Cass said he had been hired to fix a “longstanding fiscal problem” within the athletic department and quickly took steps to cut spending by $100,000. “Most coaches or parents did not notice a thing,” he wrote, “but three coaches who had been accustomed to preferential treatment resisted measures to promote fiscal responsibility and gender equity throughout the athletic department.”

Cass contended he found misused funds, coaches being paid under the table, inadequate background checks for coaches, and lopsided funding favoring boys’ teams in violation of Title IX, a civil rights law prohibiting gender discrimination in schools. Cass declined to identify the coaches allegedly involved.

Cass’s comments suggest he feels his contract was not renewed because he complained to the district. The district said the decision was based on a poor performance review that concluded Cass “does not get along with coaches,” “does not support the teams” and “has a ‘top-down’ approach to decision-making,” the Boston Globe reported.

In the article, one parent is quoted as saying several parents support Cass, but they’re afraid to speak out for fear that it would make their children’s lives difficult.

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