C-J Not Buying Berman's BS

This from the Courier-Journal:

A coach for PRP

Obviously Jefferson County Public Schools had to move ahead with finding a new football coach for Pleasure Ridge High School.

With Jason Stinson already under indictment on criminal charges related to the death of sophomore lineman Max Gilpin, and already both suspended from coaching and reassigned to non-instructional duties, it should have been obvious before now that someone else would be needed to head the PRP program.

For those who hadn't already reached that conclusion, there was the recent release of a Sept. 14 Stinson interview with police in which the coach acknowledged he denied some players water at the practice last Aug. 20 during which young Gilpin collapsed -- actions that would seem to have violated both district and state athletics rules.

Mr. Stinson indicated Max wasn't one of those who had been refused water, but the head coach was in charge, and the worst happened. Two players were sent to the hospital. One died -- according to the death certificate, as a result of septic shock resulting from multiple organ failure brought on by heat stroke.

One wonders if Max heard his coach call those who got water "cowards" - and if that persuaded him or others to press on without it.

The courts will have to decide, in criminal and civil cases, what relationship, if any, Mr. Stinson's water policy and personal conduct, on that day, had to the subsequent tragedy. Meanwhile, although the frustration of school board members with a drawn-out JCPS investigation is understandable, the district does need time to study the large number of documents recently made available.

On the other hand, there's little reason to accept Superintendent Sheldon Berman's recent claim, in an interview with The Courier-Journal, that JCPS has been "on top of this from the very beginning." It's disappointing that he still says, "I wouldn't change anything."

Surely, in retrospect he wouldn't let district spokeswoman Lauren Roberts issue what read like an exoneration of district personnel in an Aug. 26 Courier-Journal story, declaring, "Based on initial reviews, it appears that all of the guidelines and protocols were followed." Surely he would have the district director of activities and athletics, Jerry Wyman, avoid the statements he made on Aug. 24, the day before young Gilpin died, indicating he had reviewed heat-index paperwork and taken statements from Mr. Stinson and PRP athletics director Craig Webb and found no wrongdoing.

Surely, I'm starting to believe that that's just how PR is done in Louisville. Berman's approach sounds just like UofL President James Ramsey's approach following the Robert Felner mess. Tell the people you didn't do anything wrong, declare that it's time to move on, and brass it out.

PRP principal David Johnson has been put in charge of finding a new coach, in consultation with top JCPS officials. Let's hope the consultation is very close, and includes barring Mr. Johnson from again applying a religious criterion to the choice, as he did in choosing Mr. Stinson.