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Letter: Coach Grant ‘parting ways’ with high school is only part of the problem 

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Dear Editor, and Paso Robles Community,

In light of the recent “parting of ways” between Coach Larry Grant and the Paso Robles School District, I think it is time for me to go public with my personal issues with both Coach Grant and the school district. Some in the community know me and what I stand for, though some you will bash me for coming forward and exposing this corrupted district we all once loved. This is fine; we all have our own opinions.

I came to Paso Robles in 1982 at two-years old. I was raised in this beautiful town by my Bearcat parents. My son has gone to school here and has been a Bearcat since he was born, playing football as a Bearcat since he was seven years old. Now he is now finishing his senior year at Templeton High. I had to change schools for his last year of high school for many reasons.

My son got off to a slow start at the beginning of school in fall 2016 due to emergency surgery, and missed the first four weeks. I notified the school a week before school started. We received assignments from some his teachers and it was hard getting follow-through from a few of them. He completed his assignments and we thought his assignments were recorded accurately. He had a 2.0 GPA when he returned to school after surgery. Yes I’m aware that is not an acceptable GPA to some, but he was out of school on medical leave. On October 31, 2016 I got a notice that he was on academic probation because his GPA was 1.6. I immediately contacted his school counselor, Michael Moore, who confirmed my son’s GPA was actually 2.0. Since then I have had continuing conflict with the school about this GPA. My son plays plays football and it is very important his GPA stay above 2.5 to be eligible to play. Even though I transferred him to Templeton High for his last year of school and football, the grade issue has continued with the wrong grades being transferred and reported to the California Interscholastic Federation. Anthony Morales, the Athletic Director, rhas reported three different grade point averages, none of which are correct.

The grade issue is only one of the reasons I decided to remove my son from the Paso Robles school system. The other reasons include:

  • Certain teachers failing to help my son when he asked, talking down to him, not recording completed assignments and being  uncooperative with my requests. Appeals to Superintendent Williams went nowhere.
  • Problems with Coach Grant insisting my son practice and lift weights even though he had a back and ankle injury and was on medical leave by his doctor.
  • Reports to me from the coaching staff about meetings led by Coach Grant during which he mentioned me in very negative terms.
  • An incident involving Coach Grant not appropriately handling a drug incident, which I reported to District Athletic Director Rich Clayton, Chris Williams, Superintendent, Mr. Martinez, the principal, and Anthony Morales, Paso Robles High’s Athletic Director. At that time I also reported that Coach Grant was aware of drug use and drinking on the football team. The outcome of this report was emailed to me in less than 24 hours after I reported it. I was surprised about the short-lived investigation and notified the district and school,“That was the shortest investigation in the history of investigations.” They then performed another. Frank Panian The District Human Relations Supervisor, took over the next investigation. It took him exactly five days to report his findings: Nothing was found by the administration. I find that very odd.

 

I am only writing about the issues at the top of my list. There is not enough room to write about everything. I have documentation, photos, and video on everything I’ve mentioned here. Other parents have similar issues with the school district not protecting their children from bullying and exposure to drugs, and the use of drugs and alcohol on the football team.

I am not saying that any of these reasons are the cause for Coach Grant’s “parting ways” with the high school. What I am saying is that there are problems with our schools and the school district that have been around for quite a few years and the school district administration does not seem willing to acknowledge the problems or thoroughly investigate and correct problems.

All the administration needs to do is sincerely listen to the parents’ experiences, actually investigate and follow-through, maybe get rid of a few bad apples, and enforce the policies they claim to have in place to protect our children.

Thank you all for your time and attention on this matter. Maybe now that this is out, more parents will speak up and stand beside me.

Sincerely,
Amanda Parlet
Paso Robles, CA

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