At Monday’s 14-hour Board of Education hearing, members voted 5-1 against overturning superintendent of schools Thomas Scarice’s decision to not renew the contract of boys soccer head coach Russell Oost-Lievense.
Robert Harrington was the only member voting to reinstate the coach, a former Staples captain whose appeal was bolstered by the presence of dozens of players. Harrington writes to “06880”:
1) The Board of Education failed Westport in the soccer head coach non-renewal hearing. Why did they act like a rubber stamp, and were not concerned with all the withheld evidence and witnesses from our administration?
2) At the tennis coach non-renewal hearing earlier this year, BOE chair Lee Goldstein recused herself. For this soccer hearing, it was first selectman candidate and BOE member Kevin Christie’s turn. Why did Kevin recuse himself, and avoid having to make an important decision? Is that leadership?
3) Staples Principal Thomas Stafford was not in command of any details at the hearing, and represented the Westport Public Schools poorly. Why was he asked to give evidence, yet other valuable witnesses were blocked by Westport Superintendent?
4) I am calling for athletics director VJ Sarullo to immediately step down. When will the drama in the Staples athletics department end?
5) Restoring coaches’ confidence in Westport: What is next for non-renewed soccer coaches?
Robert Harrington
I love being on the Board of Education. But during large parts of a 14-hour testimony on Monday, I felt our community was let down by both our school administration and the actions of the Board of Education.
I am not afraid to vote in a different direction than my fellow board members.
I respect my fellow Board of Education colleagues — but not on this matter. The lack of any questions by the majority of the board toward the administration speaks volumes. Their silence was deafening. The absence of sitting BOE member and nominated Democratic candidate for first selectman Kevin Christie stood out.
I have been a strong supporter of superintendent Scarice on many issues. However, I was highly disappointed with his decision to block 8+ witnesses from the hearing on Monday. This indicated a clear bias.
There are dozens of emails that board members are being prevented from seeing. What is in them?
There was only a very limited investigation into “the incident” in 2024. The investigation basically only lasted from October 24-29. After this date, no additional information or witnesses were considered.
However, there was no communication or updates to the coaches. The administration was playing the long game, and stretching thing out — just as they had done with the tennis coach investigation.
I have serious concerns about how this administration conducts investigations. I also saw this in the antisemitic bullying situation with the Goldberg family last year. There seems to be a pattern here. It is my strong view that the very limited investigation into the soccer coaches was an egregious failure of governance and due process.
Furthermore, the performance and lack of clear answers from the three administration witnesses was highly concerning to me. It doesn’t appear that this was concerning to other board members.
An image of “3 stooges” entered my head on my midnight walk home: the superintendent, Staples principal and athletics director. They could barely recall basic facts about the case.
Staples principal Thomas Stafford seemed to recall almost zero details on any of the matters. His testimony was disrespectful to Westport, the players, and certainly the coaches. Was this the best evidence that was on offer for Westport? Are they taking you seriously?
From left: principal Stafford Thomas, athletic director VJ Sarullo and superintendent of schools Thomas Scarice, at Monday’s hearing.
I truly believe athletic director, VJ Sarullo should lose his job. He is overseeing a sports department that is bungling from one crisis to another. Soaring legal costs. A non-renewal case for a long standing tennis coach that was rightly thrown out, as the paperwork wasn’t correctly done.
A community of sportsmen and women and parents that seems to be turning against him. A tone-deaf approach to abolishing the 60+ year tradition of the Bock “S” award. The list is building. Numerous coaches have reached out to me since the hearing on Monday.
Athletic director VJ Sarullo replaced the traditional block “S” with a generic plaque this year.
Monday’s hearing was an embarrassment to Westport Public Schools and our town. There are more hearings on the way – and probably more legal challenges too.
No wonder our athletic director can longer afford to keep a 60-year+ old Block “S” tradition alive, with all these legal bills building up on his watch.
Let me summarize the lack of evidence and transparency in this hearing from your school district:
The Administration objected to 8 witnesses — including the former athletics director (who was trashed by the Superintendent during the hearing, with zero right to respond). They also did not permit the assistant suprintendent for human resources and coaches in other sports programs at Staples to testify, who could provide insight into training and policies.
The Administration prevented us (and you) from seeing dozens of emails. We will never know what is in them.
When I asked our attorney the weekend before the hearing about this exclusion of evidence, it was suggested I might need to recuse myself, and risk being responsible for a “7-fold increase” in legal costs for BOE.
No one that was a witness to either the 2022 or 2024 incidents was called as a witness by our administration.
Students who were direct witnesses in 2024 came forward to be interviewed by our administration. This was rejected.
Many current players supported coach Russell Oost-Lievense at Monday’s hearing.
The administration admitted that a 2022 coach evaluation was not produced — or they don’t have it. (The notice of non-renewal from our administration did not explicitly refer to an incident in 2022. However, it formed a large part of the administration’s oral testimony)
The Administration would nor or did not make available a report into their own independent investigation of the 2022 situation for the hearing. It never presented the report to the coach back in 2022.
– The Administration would not or did not make available the Department of Children and Family Services report from 2022 that found no wrongdoing by the head coach.
– The Administration reported a misleading call to DCF about a “physical” interaction between a student and (a different soccer coach) in 2024, and knew this not to be the case. Despite this exaggerated report, DCF declined to investigate and notified the administration the same day.
No coaches’ handbook exists in Westport Public Schools. Fortunately. we were told, “We are working on it.”
To be clear: there was no suggestion that head coach Russell Oost-Lievense was physical towards a child. He was not.
Additionally, there was also no suggestion that the head coach had any verbal integrations or disagreements was a student athlete in 2024. He is accused of not reporting a verbal disagreement between another coach and a student.
Both coaches at the hearing said the other coach and student “hugged it out” and resolved their disagreement shortly afterwards, and both apologized to the their teammates.
Furthermore, whilst suspended on full-pay the head coach attended an end-of- season banquet not hosted by the school, nor at the school, and not a school event. He received multiple invitations from booster clubs, players and parents.
He has also asked for clarity, and ultimately left a message to the athletic director informing him that he would be attending the banquet.
The athletic director did not respond or communicate with the head coach about this. Furthermore, neither the superintendent, Staples principal or athletic director attended the banquet, despite the total lack of clarity within the Boys Soccer program. Maybe it wasn’t important to them?
I am glad and proud that head coach Russell Oost-Lievense attended the end of season banquet.
No one in my family plays soccer, and I have never met any of the Staples soccer coaches who were non-renewed in late 2024, until Monday. I was impressed by the head coach and the bond he has formed with his team.
Most of them sat there for 14 hours on Monday. It was a real community. I was proud as a father, and as a board member.
Head coach Russell Oost-Lievense (standing, 3rd from left), with players during a break in Monday’s hearing.
I heard his impactful testimony about how he stood up against bullying on the team in 2022. He immediately reported a truly serious matter back in 2022 to our administration, and they seemingly did nothing.
The compassion and vulnerability from the coach was plain for all to see. He is clearly there 24/7 for these kids, in a role that probably pays $7,000 per a year. He is a full-time teacher in Darien public schools, and has been employed for many years with no issues from that district.
I would be proud for any of my children to have been taught and/or coached by him.
I am deeply concerned with the way this administration and Board of Education have treated this coach.
I know they made the argument on Monday that the program was better off without him. I disagree. The sad statement from me as a sitting Board of Education member is actually the coach maybe better off without Westport or Westport Public Schools.
I have never been more proud than to stand separately from the board, and the embarrassment of a case that the administration made and I witnessed on Monday.
Head coach Russell Oost-Lievense should be reinstated. Staples athletic director, VJ Sarullo should do the right thing, and immediately step down.
(“06880” Opinion pages are open to all. Email 06880blog@gmail.com for details.)
WoW! I know nothing of the incident but this letter of indictments, lack of due process, and lack of transparency seems to be a theme I keep seeing in Westport. Who is really making these decisions or are the decision makers under threat?
Glad I played football at Staples from 1958-60
so many great football players with last name Taylor
So many famous people with the last name of Taylor like Elizabeth Taylor who lived on Long Lots in 1958! This post was taylor made for my comment too!
Jim Taylor ’65
Robert, thanks for your candor.
A unique political opportunity for Ms Tooker. Fire the lot of them rehire all the coaches and hire new administrators. A great show of leadership toughness and clear thinking. Brave and bold seeking Governorship.
The first selectwoman cannot fire anyone on the BOE side. Only the elected BOE members can do that. There is a pretty clear divide.
Wouldn’t the BOE have the authority here, not the FS? Please correct me if I’m wrong.
Thank you for putting yourself out there, Robert. Yours is a thankless job, and I for one appreciate you taking yours so seriously and respectfully. My kids went thru the Westport Public Schools K-12 but were not athletes. After reading all of the articles and posts about this situation and prior ones, I’m grateful to NOT have participated or directly interacted with the Athletic Director or Superintendent. And I am sorry to hear that a school principal whom I respected has basically rolled over and is not doing his job to do the best by his students. Shame on Westport – when this hits the wider news world (and I’m sure it will), it will only reflect poorly on what used to be a special town and community. And that, friends, will ultimately negatively affect our all-important property values.
Having been at the marathon hearing and having personally witnessed the testimony allowed to be given to the Board and the public (and having seen the incredible soccer team support given the coach)- I agree with Mr Harrington’s assessment of this fiasco and thank him for explaining so completely from a Board member’s perspective what was going on behind the scenes that we didn’t get to see.
This was a totally avoidable self inflicted wound that appears to be an ongoing and a recurring problem that the athletic director could not deal with properly.
Just my opinion based on what we were allowed to see and testimony we were allowed to hear.
Mark Yurkiw-to me this is just BULLYING and BLUFFING by the BOE attorney and Superintendent. They know that parents are afraid of retribution, and rightly so. The FS, P&Z and all other boards and commissions are subject to FOIA requests. FOIA’s are time consuming, but each one gets a response. If someone were to file a FOIA with BOE-they must respond and if they don’t, sue. There is something really wrong with the way this was handled. What are the BOE and Super hiding? Incompetence? Their own? Good job Robert.
I understand that this will be an unpopular opinion. There’s a simple solution to this and any other issues resulting from the athletics department….abolish it (not PE, just sports programs). Kids are fundamentally at school to learn, not play sports. Those resources could be better allocated toward actual education, for all students. Not just the “elites” that far, FAR too much emphasis and attention is given to. And let’s be honest, the only reason that this is up for debate anyway is because it’s about your precious sports. If any other teacher would have been accused of something like this, they would have been fired, without question, immediately. Furthermore , the fact that you even have the opportunity to write about this “issue” is a glaring admission to the gross privilege that Westport enjoys.
I couldn’t disagree more with your statements. You sound completely out of touch with modern society.
By “modern society”, do you mean the one where so much emphasis is put on sports that kids don’t have time to actually be kids? Often to the detriment of their health, both physical and mental. I know of a kid that at 10 was pushed so hard at youth baseball that he injured himself and needed physical therapy. Is that the modern society you want to be a part of? Because that doesn’t sound appealing to me or my kids.
If you don’t think school sports are educational, Sal, I suspect you either were never a part of them or had a crappy coach, which can happen. There are so many kids who would never make it through high school without extracurriculars, kids who learn more—or differently— through their team than through their classes. The problem this writer shines a light on is with the administration, not the sport.
Thank you Robert for always speaking out and sharing your thoughts! It helps us in the community fight against the gaslighting that is constantly going on. You help me for one, keep hope alive!
I went back and listened to BOE meeting of Jan 16 (first comment in non-agenda item at 2′ 30″). It was a very moving and a brave first hand account of the events that led to the dismissal of the head and assistant soccer coaches. It was worrying to hear that the soccer players were retaliating in this way. Obviously there are two sides for a story, but it was really moving to hear the account of the player directly. And what was striking is that this player did not go to the end of year banquet because he did not feel safe, and I’ve read that the coach while suspended was invited and went. What the heck is going on!
Doesn’t the Superintendent work for the BOE versus the other way around? I find it disturbing that witness testimony and other potentially exculpatory evidence was not allowed. All relevant material should have been presented. Can’t believe it took so long and not everything was presented to the BOE.
I spent 14 hours at the hearing on Monday, as did my son and his teammates. It was an experience these kids will never forget. And, it was a day, fortunately or unfortunately, that caused them to grow up really fast. My observation was that it was truly shocking for them to learn that their education and welfare has been entrusted to 3 people who seem to be: (1) dishonest; (2) disinterested in them; (3) so disingenuous as to appear to be mocking them; and (4) completely bankrupt of integrity. What lessons did they learn here? I hope they learned that this behavior is wrong, and that it is important for them to have integrity and respect for other people. But, they will have to be mature enough to reject the lessons that the administrators and the Board of Ed tried to teach them on Monday. The lessons on offer on Monday included: (1) gaslighting is a good strategy; (2) lying is Ok if you can get what you want; (3) bullying is not something to take seriously and if their coach does take it seriously the coach should be fired; (4) that it is better to say “I don’t recall” 20 times than to tell the truth; (5) that fair play is for the losers; (6) that the word unbiased (as in unbiased mediator) is a code word for totally biased.
So, what do we all do now? How do we clean up this mess? Robert’s recommendation is a start: lose the Athletic Director and lose him fast. I would suggest, however, that it is at least as important to replace the principal and the superintendent — with honest, qualified, caring, professionals who can show our kids the difference between wrong and right. As for the Board of Ed (minus Robert Harrington, the only BOE member fulfilling his role as a BOE executive), shame on us. We voted for these sycophants and we are now paying the price. If we can’t remove them or recall them, we need to vote them out and replace them with people who are qualified, capable and interested in doing the job we hired them to do.
Joe- That very testimony is one of the major problems and confusing elements in this case. In fact, that testimony was made while the parents were being told that the investigation is ongoing and all aspects of it are confidential. The AD previously told us that for the sake of the student’s privacy, he could not tell tell us ANYTHING about the investigation: who is involved, what the allegations are, who is being interviewed, when the investigation will finish, etc. The soccer community was shocked when the Board of Ed then invited the student (involved in the complaints) to present at this public meeting. The young man gave up his privacy in this matter and, unfortunately, related a story –which we found out on Monday during the hearing — was not accurate. My interpretation of the event at the time was that this was done to help Tom Scarice, Lee Goldstein and the Board of Ed unfairly strengthen their case to non-renew the coaches. To say that such testimony during this time is inappropriate and possibly illegal is probably an understatement.
Stephanie, was there any retaliation from students, parents, or coaches towards the student after the anonymous report? Retaliation is prohibited in youth sports; I know because I had to take hours of training to be able to be a volunteer coach. It does not matter if the reported incident was true or not.
Regarding the public comment this young man made in BOE meeting of Jan 16, he said that he is speaking out in the public because he has been isolated for 3 months, and he was critical of how the administration were handling the incident with little information that is leading others to think that he was the anonymous person who reported it. Anyone can come and make a non-agenda public comment, and you don’t need an invitation from the school administration or the board of education to do that.
I quickly glanced through the comments but did have a question that I didn’t see discussed. Did the other board members come out to voice their rationale for their votes (similar to what Robert did in his comments here)? Although I don’t claim to know all the facts, it does seem highly irregular (and just flat out wrong) that evidence was omitted from the discussion. I also wonder how Staples expects to fill coaching vacancies in the future (we will always need to do that) with the message that’s being sent here. No one is coaching for the money- if you matched what they receive for the season based on the hours they spend on and off the field with the players/coaches/etc, it certainly leads you to understand that coaching high school sports is about the love of the kids and the passion for the town- and I’m not sure that any amount of money makes it worth it when I watch something like this happening.
Tom – I certainly don’t speak for any other Board Members but I believe the answer to your question would be no / not yet.
My speculation only – but I would imagine they are probably preparing or will prepare a joint statement from the board (obviously I would not be part of that statement). I would also assume that the board’s attorney will be be closely examining any such statement.
I have been reached out to by multiple coaches at Staples since Monday, and more since this article today. I will respect their privacy – but it is an understatement to say there is real concern from multiple coaches – across multiples sports.
I hope they get real reassurances for the Board and the Administration. I don’t see how that is possible with the current Athletics Director staying in his current role.
There is more to this story that there is something desperately wrong with the leadership from our Athletic Director. I don’t know if you are aware of the anti-semitism our boys JV tennis team endured at a match 2 years ago from the opposing town school and no action whatsoever was done! It’s a disgrace and there is zero tolerance for this! As a parent to one of the boys targeted its heart-breaking.
Thank you, Robert, for your hard work and candor here. I honestly do not know all the facts, but I would like to read a statement by other BOE members justifying their vote (and a statement justifying the recusal for that matter). I believe the Board owes the public that much. The rest of the BOE likely has very clear reasons about why they voted they way they did; I would just like to hear them.
I am very sorry to learn about this outcome, which seems unfair. The overwhelming support shown by the students for their soccer coach was very moving. How many “kids today” are willing to hang out for 14 hours at Town Hall?
What is still not clear to me is whether the young man (the student), who publicly stated at a BOE meeting that he was a victim of “physical assault” by a soccer coach while at a SHS soccer retreat, was actually subjected to physical assault.
I realize that the coach, who was the subject of the hearing on Monday, is not the same coach who was accused of physically assaulting the student. That said, “the assault” at the soccer retreat seems to be the catalyst that set this sad story in motion. Did it actually happen?
Elaine, according to what we learned on Monday from the Board of Ed, THERE WAS NO PHYSICAL CONTACT and NO PHYSICAL ASSAULT between the student and ANY of the coaches.
There was no testimony on Monday that stated there was any physical contact or assault from any of the coaches. Furthermore, there was testimony from the Administration that could not confirm anything physical whatsoever.
My very clear understanding from the evidence we were presented and from all we heard on Monday was that there was no physical assault or contact from ANY of the coaches towards a student.
Thank you Mr Harrington for speaking out!! It is refreshing to seee that someone dare to stand up and gight for issues they believe in. The handling of non-renewal of coaches contract is a disgrace.
I think the administration has done a very poor job in handling recent BOE business .
They appear quite uninformed and quite willing to spin their case and spend our taxes without regard to consequences.
We need transparency and clarity and to revisit this issue.
Perhaps as a gesture of good faith they might even collectively agree to shoulder a small percentage of the legal fees this travesty has incurred. But I think not.
By the way, as for eliminating sports from our town’s “ elitist” school culture, and curriculum I offer this response.
Mens Sana in Corpore Sana.
Last time I checked every Ivy League university and every top college in this country still fields teams in football, basketball ,hockey, etc.
Lastly, I feel incredibly lucky to have raised my family in this town. Westporters I know do more good for others on weekends ,evenings and after work than many people do in a lifetime.
The only problem I have living here is the persistent odor of sour grapes.
What a wonderfully pretentious Westport response! “ Mens Sana in Corpore Sana”…please…. If you actually read what was written, you would have seen that I advocated for keeping PE, just removing sports programs. As a matter of fact, allocate those sports funds to improving PE to be less of an afterthought and more to teach actual principles of fitness and health, and not just check boxes. There’s your “sound body”.
If you focus on academics, you’ll have smarter kids that can get into those same Ivy Leagues, for the reasons they exist in the first place. You know…knowledge and education. It’s ridiculous that undeserving and underperforming students get a shot and/or free ride at places of higher learning because they can throw a ball better than some other kids.
Seriously, the amount of attention and emphasis put onto sports by otherwise very smart people is, and always has been, deeply concerning.
My, my, my,……the ‘crows’ are sitting on the numerous, and double, sometime triple, telephone pole lines in 06880
Mr. Harrington, well stated. But if you want answers to your questions, an aggrieved party has to sue and go ASAP for depositions. Costs $. Which is why your own BOE lawyer THREATENED you with reprisals.
WOW! Did no one else catch that. A Westport funded lawyer threatened an elected Westport board member with REPRISALS!!! First on the firing list is THAT lawyer. (Name, please.)
In the meantime, Tom, if wanna save your own job, you have to fire the other two as VJ is clearly a law unto himself and Thomas is incapable of asserting any authority over a direct report person. Or have you told Thomas that if he acts against VJ, it is he (Thomas) who gets the boot 1st?
Hey, we have a Twilight Zone plot here: The Big S Award. And I do not mean service, support or sacrifice by the letter S in this case. (Hint: French word beginning with “m”.)
Where is PAUL LANE when Staples needs him?!?!?!?!
Just a alto clarinet player.
P.S.What should the present members of Staple’s Men’s Soccer Team do?
There is a student-organized walkout at Staples High School tomorrow (Friday, May 16th) @ 9am to support the coaches whose contracts have not been renewed. 4 things you can do to support the coaches and protest against the administration and board of education:
1. Attend the walk-out
2. Sign the petition: https://chng.it/9yML5hwm
3. Donate to the GoFundMe: tinyurl.com/35h4vnuc
4. Spread the word within and outside our community
An Instagram account has been made with more information: https://www.instagram.com/wreckersforruss?
I don’t see how the use of time honored axioms like” Mens Sana in Corpore Sana “equate to an indictment of an entire town as “Westport Pretension” MR Saperstein.
I am sorry that a very minimal bit of the erudition you seem to champion is offensive to you .
If you need an unpretentious quote consider this from the venerable Mr Twain.
“Never engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent”
And I won”t !
Frank Accardi