High school coach suspended following incident
A Royalton-Hartland coach has been suspended following an incident involving the girl's high school basketball team. As YNN's Antoinette DelBel reports, one resident says the matter was blown out of proportion, while others say the school district should do more.
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MIDDLEPORT, N.Y. — On Jan. 18, according to the Royalton-Hartland Central School District, some members of the girls high school basketball team were involved in an incident that took place at a game in the Barker Central School District.
In a statement, the district said an incident involving some team members and a former player started in the hallway and continued into the locker room.
The district would only say it's disciplined all the students involved.
However, one parent whose daughter attended the game said the whole incident was blown out of proportion.
"It was a running joke between a bunch of kids and their class for the last three years. There was no hazing or anything like that. It was just a joke," said Roy Harrington of Gasport. "It was something very minor that happened and they're making a big deal out of it."
The incident led to an investigation and then the suspension of the girls basketball coach Donald Baker for the rest of the school year.
Daniel Rook of Gasport said he grew up with Baker.
"He's always been good at teaching kids, and he's been teaching them for I think 10 to 15 years," said Rook. "He's been doing a good job as coaching."
A Roy-Hart parent, Tonia Brege, said the district should be tougher on the students.
"The kids that were involved in it should be expelled from school. There should be no questions about it," said the Gasport resident. "Roy-Hart is big on saying, 'We have a zero tolerance policy for bullying.' Prove it."
In its statement, the district did not specify whether or not the coach has been let go, only that he has been suspended for the rest of the basketball season. The district said it takes these matters very seriously, especially after the Dignity for All Students Act was passed last summer.