Leading off today: West Genesee has dropped longtime distance-running coach Jim Vermeulen, and
Syracuse.com reported that a book published two years ago may have been his undoing.
Vermeulen, 75, began coaching cross country and track as the Section 3 school in the mid-1980s. He said he intended to coach track again this spring and cross country in the fall before retiring. Instead, district Superintendent David Bills informed him on Jan. 29 that he would not be re-appointed.
In March 2023, Vermeulen released "The Middle Distances: Running Seasons and the Wildcats of West Genesee High School," a lengthy book focused largely on the 2018-19 school year.
"We had several athletes and parents who expected much but did not match that with effort and commitment," Vermeulen said at that time. "The majority of the athletes were terrific but were sometimes overshadowed by the 'drama' presented by those others."
Vermeulen told the website lingering ill will from that book may have contributed to his dismissal. He said Bills had a copy of the book in his office the day of the January meeting.
Bills did not respond to Syracuse.com’s request for comment.
Wildcats football coach Joe Corley is coaching the boys and girls track teams this spring. The school has not yet named a new cross country coach.
Court rejects districts' challenge to mascots rule
A federal judge has ruled against four Long Island school districts challenging New York's ban on Native American imagery public schools, including mascots and team names,
Newsday reported.
U.S. Chief District Judge Margo K. Brodie on Thursday dismissed lawsuits brought by the Wantagh, Wyandanch, Connetquot and Massapequa school districts. Brodie wrote that the districts and their officers "lack capacity to sue their state creators" under the 14th Amendment and other statutes. The court also found that the school board members who were parties to the suit lacked enough evidence to back assertions of First Amendment protection.
The Board of Regents issued guidance in spring 2023 banning the use of Native American mascots, team names and logos in public schools. Local Native American leaders have said that the imagery promotes harmful stereotypes. School districts have until June 30 to comply or face the possibility of losing state aid.
Speaking of Long Island schools and mascots ...
A leader of a Suffolk County chapter of the NAACP has sued the Brentwood Union Free School District over its new
Spartans mascot, which he says is "racially problematic" and discriminatory.
The Brentwood district announced last April that its Indians mascot would give way to the Spartans name and imagery. The name is a nod to the ancient Greek city-state whose military was known for its ferocity.
But Brentwood resident William King Moss III's lawsuit filed this month in state court in Riverhead claims the Spartans were white, non-Hispanic people who enslaved others and did not allow women to serve in the military.
Newsday reported Moss is president of the Islip-Smithtown branch of the NAACP.
The district declined to comment on the lawsuit.
Newburgh reverses course on football coaches
Newburgh Free Academy varsity football coach Bill Bianco and his assistants have been reinstated via a unanimous school board vote.
Bianco and his staff were relieved of their coaching duties by acting superintendent Lisa Buonon on Feb. 26 following a months-long investigation into a locker room fight between players late last season.
The Times Herald-Record reported that decision triggered weeks of backlash in the community, leading to Tuesday's board vote.
Bianco took over in 2009, and the Goldbacks reached the NYSPHSAA title game two years later. Newburgh returned to the championship game in 2014 and 2022.
A newsy week for football coaches
After coaching at La Salle Institute for the past seven years,
John Audino is returning to the college ranks as an assistant at Marist University.
Audino, 71, went 152-89 as the head coach at Union College from 1992-2015.
Audino was 29-31 at La Salle, including 3-7 last season.
• Maurice "Moe" Jackson, recently fired after two seasons at Aquinas, has been named head coach at Vertus, a charter school in Rochester. Jackson's Aquinas team reached the NYSPHSAA semifinals last fall.
• Moore Catholic administrators and coach Nick Giannatasio came to a mutual decision to go their separate ways on Thursday. Hours later, The Advance reported Giannatasio had landed at St. Peter's, another Staten Island school, as a co-head coach.
