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Former coach urges district to apply coaching rules consistently after being told he cannot volunteer
Summary
A longtime volunteer football coach told the board he was informed he cannot coach because his son will be an incoming freshman; he asked the district to apply standards consistently across sports and reconsider the restriction.
During public comment, Jordan Oliveira, a volunteer and former football coach at David Douglas High School, appealed to the board to review how the district applies restrictions on parents coaching athletes. Oliveira said he was told by the athletic director that he cannot coach because he is the parent of an incoming freshman, while other head coaches have been allowed to coach their own children.
Oliveira described four years working with the same group of players, taking injured players to the hospital, supporting athletes academically and helping raise the team's GPA from a 1.8 to nearly 3.0. He said the coaching staff has bonded and that losing volunteer coaches would destabilize the program. "If they're going to set new rules from the athletic director... being a parent to an athlete doesn't change who's allowed to coach and who's allowed to volunteer," he said.
He asked that the district apply rules consistently across sports and clarified he volunteers without pay. Oliveira also said parents and players have threatened to transfer their children out of district if the coaching staff is broken up.
The board did not take action during public comment; district administrators said they would follow up to learn more about the case.
