Lake Oswego Coach Fired (for doing the right thing) - writing letters to state officials advocating for change to laws pertaining to transgender athletes

We don't support this either. Also is this all you say on these threads?

Yeah, so according to the article he was dismissed for harassing the kid, not for writing the letter. He's right on the principle of the issue, but if this is really the way he went about his business this spring he's a bully and an embarrassment to the coaching profession.

This is a great issue to fight about but this is NOT even close to why he was really fired/not asked to coach again.

The poster from Salem was pretty accurate about his petty issues and they all came up again at LO in similar forms. This issue is great for him to die on, cause people can rally around it and make him a victim. People think he was fighting for his athlete's, but nothing is further from the truth. The truth is he let his athlete's, down and should not be welcome at any program again.

One thing to note is the fact that he coaches in one district and teaches in another. Pretty easy for LO to say thanks, but we are going in a different direction under those circumstances. Even more so if there are qualified replacements who work in building/district.

Obviously not the only factor pointed out so far.

how long before the "real" story comes about about this creep. he seems very focused on teenage girls

I bet you also think separate but equal was a great idea for the blacks

Definitely. What sane person thinks an adult harassing a kid is sane?

A public school firing someone for expressing an opinion on a matter of public concern would likely be a violation of the First Amendment. A public school firing an employee for harassing a kid at another school because he disagrees with something the kid did is totally justifiable.

Parks is defending himself through the motte-and-bailey fallacy, conflating what is likely the actual reason he got fired (harassing a kid, and not so easy to defend) with his modest and reasonable action in writing a letter protested males being including in girls' competitions (easy to defend, reasonable).

I agree that boys shouldn't be in the girls races. But even if your state has a dumb rule, you can't be a jerk to a high school kid and keep your job.

Always fun to watch letsrun children scream about an issue in the absence of fact or evidence. So, let's do a likely scenario. Yes, coach has free speech rights. He can say what he wants on his own time. But, perhaps maybe, he sent those letters on a school letterhead. That would be, in any school or college or university in the US, a firing offense because the coach does not speak for the administration but using the official letterhead suggests he is doing just that. That is one likely scenario. And if he harassed the athlete, that is immediate firing. So, are you all stupid enough to really believe he got fired just for expressing himself or are you just being the children you are and filtering his situation through your own cognitive biases and filter bubbles?

Socialists have taken over school districts across the country and much worst in democrat states. You don't play along with their DEI lies and you get canned.

Please be a bot. Socialism is a good idea, but it's not taking over. Social Security and Medicare are socialism, which is why the GOP wants to get rid of them. Over-accommodation, over-PC, over-wokeism? Yes, it happens occasionally and it's not good when it does. But that is not what socialism means. And before, all we ever had was under-accommodation aka bigotry and good ol' boys, which was worse and is still the case most places most of the time.

Haskins' reading of the situation is completely out of touch.

A big issue is that what Parks said about fairness is not wrong, the races won't be fair if they're in it. Someone of significance has to say it out loud for the athlete and their supporters to hear loud and clear. I suppose an argument could be made that it was in poor taste when Parks said it to the athlete but at some point people are going to see that the current course of action, inaction, is not working. Parents and coaches who push for fairness in sport have just as much right to their opinions as the trans proponents and don't deserve to be silenced...warts and all.

Is he really attempting to pin the fairness in sport movement as Parks' own personal agenda? That's a stretch. Also, he's trying to blame the booing by the spectators on Parks because he was riling folks up? Believe it or not, they would have booed regardless of what Parks' did.

Those assertions either comes from living in a bubble, lack of critical thinking ability, or desperately searching for a scapegoat.

Hopefully it's the later and it's not surprising that he did what he did. It will come at a cost to the school district in legal fees and settlement costs - anything to avoid the issue at hand.

If these school administrators can just keep firing people for expressing their concerns maybe they can keep kicking the can down the road and avoid for whom the bell will be tolling for next.

Yeah, well that kid and anyone that supports dudes trying to look pretty in girls competition are jerks for taking what's rightfully theirs. Supporting mental dysphoria certainly doesnt help that individual.

That coach may appear to be a jerk to all of those who support stealing opportunities from girls but those girls who didnt clap for him dont see it that way. They probably had a little relief that the whole world hasnt gone mad and someone has the guts to take their side instead of being spineless legion for the Spirit of the Age. Those are the jerks! Good for him. I dont think he cares 2 corny turd$ about getting fired for what he did for girls sports either. Leaders have to stand up and lead through sacrifice. All those who have the same beliefs but just sit back and watch are just as guilty. Im SO GLAD WA said NO!

The source for this article isn't cited, but it's from Oregonlive, the Portland paper. It's paywalled, but here is a link



So it looks like I was correct when I said that there was more to the story. These actions track (no pun intended) with everything I observed first-hand back in high school. Looks like I'm more than just a butt hurt JV athlete (or whatever the poster called me) after all!

People can argue whether the policy is correct or not and if Parks was right or wrong for challenging the rule with the OSAA, but the fact of the matter is he crossed a line by singling out and targeting a specific individual 15/16 student for exclusion and harassment. Protesting the policy and taking it up/butting heads against the governing body is one thing, but he was taking the additional step of going out of his way to go after A 15/16 YEAR OLD CHILD. This is absolutely unconscionable for any employee of a school (who is responsible for the welfare of students), let alone A TEACHER himself.

oregonlive.com

Track coach dismissed following his response to transgender athlete inclusion

NikStreng

Parks has been the head coach for the Lakers for three years, leading the girls team to three straight team state titles.

Link:www.oregonlive.com/highschoolsports/20...

We can debate whether the rule is just or not all day, but you cannot justify a school employee harassing A CHILD who, whether you like it or not, is not breaking any rules. I wouldn't be surprised if this costs him his teaching job down in Salem.

Another fun John Parks story: He once entered a group of his girls into a college meet, but showed up late and his athletes missed their race. Just as the men's race was lining up, he threw a massive tantrum at the race director and somehow got them to run an additional heat of the women's 5k just for his athletes, calling the men off the track and delaying their race for a half hour.

* 15/16 year old student. My apologies.

So you are in favor of child abuse? Is that now a core conservative view?

Another point that just occurred to me - if was contacting other coaches/meet directors to get them to violate OSAA rules, that also seems like a fireable offense to me.

But that is not why he got fired. I think most people in the area ("Dims" included) agree that we need a better solution than the one in place.

The reason his contract was not renewed is because he decided to "address the issue" with the teenager face-to-face throughout the season. Sorry, but that is not the way it works in our school system.

If you don't like a policy, you have every right to complain to the adults who make that policy. You can reach out, protest, go to a school board meeting, write the OEA, write the ODE, but you can't get in a kids face while they are literally on the podium in front of thousands of people. That is the wrong time and place.

We all agree that facts matter in situations like this and the fact is that he was not let go because he "wrote letters to the ODE." That is not the reason. Getting in a kids face (multiple times) is the reason.

And I say this as a person who is impressed with Parks' success and knowledge of the sport. I am not a hater. But man, you have to keep it professional...

Was this the guy who coached Mia Brahe-Peterson?