Coaches urge Hermiston board to curb online harassment and spectator misconduct; board asks administration to follow up

Several Hermiston High School coaches and community members told the Hermiston School District Board of Directors on May 15 that social-media posts and aggressive spectator behavior are harming coaching staff and student-athletes, and they urged the board to act.

David Faitetto, identified in public comment as head football coach and a world-studies teacher at Hermiston High School, said online criticism of coaching decisions has created a “toxic environment” and urged the board to strengthen policies protecting staff from harassment and defamation. “These unchecked public accusations create [a] toxic environment for coaches,” Faitetto said.

Kaye Edwards, a coach with four decades of experience in Hermiston youth sports, said social media has intensified public criticism and is making it harder to recruit and retain coaches. “If you as a school board make that decision based on a few people that are unhappy… it will increasingly be more difficult to get good coaches and keep good coaches,” Edwards told the board.

Riley Christenson, the district’s head softball coach, described repeated instances of “berating, screaming, yelling” by a small number of parents and said the behavior is hurting the athletes. Christenson also disputed a circulating claim about use of the varsity field and said the program had offered the field to Umatilla’s team while their facility was unavailable. “This was about compassion and community,” Christenson said.

Alan Jones, a coach who also works in the high school GED program, urged stakeholders to “stick to their roles” and not try to choose or fire coaches through public pressure. Multiple coaches and the board chair said there were additional written comments echoing the same concerns; the board made those written comments available to members rather than reading them aloud.

Board members discussed next steps during the meeting’s calendar-and-future-items segment. A board member observed that students, coaches and spectators may all benefit from a clearly stated code of conduct and suggested posting expectations at venues; another board member said parents already sign a code of conduct and that administration currently handles conduct issues. The board said it would give Dr. Mooney and district administrators an opportunity to develop a response and possible implementation (signage, outreach, or a formal spectator/parental code), rather than creating an immediate new board policy.

Ending: The board closed the short special meeting after adopting IKFB and noting administration will follow up on ideas to address social-media harassment and spectator conduct; no new policy was adopted at the meeting on those issues.