Coach Felt He Had Been Vindicated —

Quinn Ousted As Basketball Coach, Angered By Process

By Andy Hutchison

The face of Newtown basketball is changing, but not on the head coach’s terms. Longtime Newtown High School basketball Coach John Quinn will no longer run the boys’ varsity basketball team in the wake of a player’s complaint about a teammate’s bullying.

Mr Quinn’s contract was not renewed by the Newtown Board of Education following complaints by junior varsity player/sophomore Angel Santos and his mother Griselle Santos, this spring, about a teammate (whose name Mr Quinn and his attorney did not wish to reveal) bullying Santos during this past winter campaign.

Mr Quinn, who himself was not accused of bullying and who said this was 100 percent between Santos and another player, is baffled as to why he has lost his position after being under the impression things had been resolved. Mr Quinn said he and his coaching staff had been vindicated by Superintendent of Schools Janet Robinson following the complaints and what he thought were resolutions to Santos’s concerns.

Mr Quinn is upset with Dr Robinson for the way in which the board handled the situation. Dr Robinson and school board Chair Debbie Leidlein did not return phone calls made Tuesday afternoon.

The 14-year NHS coach said that after each of the three times Ms Santos complained to the Board of Education, the issue was addressed. He made it clear that he does not tolerate bullying. “Every single time, it was dealt with appropriately and within school policy,” Mr Quinn claims.

The coach vehemently denies that bullying occurs, or ever has occurred, in his program. “I’m so dead set against it,” the 58-year-old said. The coach added that basketball is a physical game and that some pushing and shoving is going to occur from time to time, but he claims that it is not bullying.

Other families of current and past players who do not get much playing time, according to Mr Quinn, stepped up and backed the Santos family’s complaints to the BOE, because they held a grudge about past playing time — or lack thereof.

“I encouraged him to keep working hard and playing hard,” Mr Quinn said of how he talked to Angel Santos, a player whom he said has great potential but had a tough time going up against older, bigger players in practices. The JV and varsity teams practice together, the coach noted. Mr Quinn added that Santos told him he had a great experience and was looking forward to playing next year.

As of mid- to late-April, Mr Quinn was looking forward to next year, too.

In an April 11 letter from Dr Robinson to the Santos family, Dr Robinson writes that the Santos family wanted all coaches within the NHS boys’ basketball program to have their employment terminated. Dr Robinson mentions in the letter that in an extensive investigation, there were differing thoughts from players and coaches to specific claims by the Santos family. Dr Robinson lists several comments from players whom the Santos family asked her to talk to, and each of them backed up the coaching staff for doing a good job and being fair.

“It is clear that these students like and appreciate Coach Quinn and his program, and see Angel being treated fairly by the coaches, but having difficult interpersonal relationships with many of the other players. These problems have been longstanding. However, the coaches always intervened when there were issues,” Dr Robinson wrote.

The Santos family expressed concerns about racial bias and Angel’s playing time being cut as a result of his disputes with another player, but Mr Quinn told Robinson that his playing time was based strictly on performance.

“All coaches and the athletic director [Gregg Simon] strongly deny any aspect of racial bias; there is no evidence of it whatsoever and it would never be tolerated,” Dr Robinson wrote in the letter.

Dr Robinson wrote in the letter that infractions by team members would be taken seriously and that there would be serious consequences. “I expect that this will not resolve all your issues, but it does present responses to your specific concerns. We take it very seriously that all of our students be safe and successful in Newtown Public Schools,” is how Dr Robinson concludes the letter.

‘It Really Hurts’

“It really hurts because I felt completely supported by the board and by Newtown High,” Mr Quinn said this week. “I felt so happy that none of this was evidenced and we were going to put this behind us and move forward.”

Mr Quinn said the Santos family continued to complain to the school board, and he received a phone call from Joan Libby, director of human resources for the district, in late April, informing him that he was being dismissed as coach. Mr Quinn said he felt slighted by receiving the news via phone call, confused, and demanded an in-person meeting with Dr Robinson. 

“I am deeply troubled, both personally and professionally, by the chain of events which led to your May 3, 2012 letter of non-renewal, and the BOE’s subsequent determination to support your decision,” Mr Quinn wrote in a June 11 letter to Dr Robinson.

Mr Quinn wrote in the letter that, on May 1, he attended a second meeting regarding the letter of non-renewal in which he learned, from Dr Robinson, for the first time that other families came forward and it was determined that a change is needed. “This statement was a complete change from your earlier position,” Mr Quinn wrote.

“During a May 30 executive session hearing, you set forth a series of entirely new, completely unheard of ‘reasons’ to support your decisions, each of which was entirely unsupported factually, including, inter alia,” and Mr Quinn goes on to refute several items he claims Dr Robinson listed, including a losing record (Mr Quinn said his team probably won 60-plus percent of its games and that it’s not about winning or losing anyway), undisciplined practices, failure to have last year’s awards dinner, that he is unapproachable, and that there is bad sportsmanship. Mr Quinn notes that the team and coaching staff, in fact, won the South-West Conference’s annual sportsmanship awards this past winter.

“You never once, in all of the conversations and meetings we had, ever questioned me regarding these new, entirely false allegations. Yet, these new allegations were the basis of your decision,” Mr Quinn wrote.

Mr Quinn said, on Tuesday, that in his appeal to the Board of Education, he and his attorney asked to have a stenographer present. He was told the meeting had to be made public to have a stenographer there, and that he agreed.

Within minutes, Mr Quinn recalled, a handful of families in support of Santos appeared and spoke to the school board. That does not sit well with Mr Quinn, as he said it appeared someone from the Board of Education contacted those families since there were no other members of the public present.

“In this case, allegations were made, they were unproven — and he was fired. At this time we are exploring all of John’s legal opportunities,” said Mr Quinn’s attorney, Brian Roman of Danbury. “John has been a pillar in the community for over 15 years.”

Mr Quinn says that as much as he believes his being terminated is unwarranted, he could not coach the high school team again given the circumstances and distractions, adding that it would not be fair to the players.

“I just hope the next time something like this happens people will handle it fairly and follow process,” Mr Quinn said.

“I truly considered it a real privilege to represent the town of Newtown and the Newtown athletic department,” said Mr Quinn, adding that he enjoyed working with the members of his coaching staff at NHS.

“John Quinn was an outstanding coach at Newtown High School who served as a wonderful role model for all of those student-athletes that he coached during his tenure,” Mr Simon said.

Mr Quinn wants to see the Rising Star Summer Basketball League, which he started and has directed throughout the years, continue, and hopes to continue to run it, but notes that it will not be as smooth as in the past because of being separated from the high school program and regular basketball interaction with coaches and players in town. “It’s such a great program it’s important that it continue,” Mr Quinn said.

Mr Quinn also founded and ran the Giorno Basketball Tournament, a fundraising event in town, for about a decade and hopes to continue being involved. “I’m going to try, but it’s going to be hard,” he said.

Mr Quinn says he looks forward to attending games at Newtown High and continuing to support the team from the bleachers, but adds that it stings to not have the chance to coach a little longer.

“I want to go out with class and grace,” said Mr Quinn, adding that he wanted to leave on his own terms and thank and say goodbye to the many coaches, parents, officials, and others he has worked with throughout the years. “I’ve met so many great people along the way.”

Mr Quinn said one of his coaching highlights came this season when, after a 2-7 start and players getting frustrated and losing focus, he turned things around. Mr Quinn described how he had all of the members of the team put their signature on a team ball as a way to make a promise to each other to support one another throughout the season. Thereafter, the Nighthawks had a turnaround campaign, he noted, and qualified for the playoffs.

“I’m going to miss it a lot,” said Mr Quinn, fighting back some emotion, as the reality of his departure settled in. “It becomes a part of you.”