The cymbals clanged, the trumpets blared, the drums rolled, and emotions from the overflow crowd rose to ceiling level last night before the School Board assembled to make a thickly anticipated declaration about a senior girl’s desire to play for her school’s soccer team while also participating in an off-campus program.
Following an elaborate buildup, the next sound heard was whoosh, air escaping from a flattening tire as the Board lopsidedly determined Maya Cohn’s beef was a private matter between her and the school.
The whoosh also resembled a deep relief sigh unanimously heaved by Culver City High School leaders after the Board concurred 4 to 1 — although there was not a formal vote — that what happens at Culver City High School should remain within the airtight corridors of Culver City High School.
While the case remains unsettled, an agreement could be reached in about 24 hours.
Final Meeting
At the behest of Scott Zeidman, who led the Board meeting in the absence of President Steve Gourley, the principals — Athletic Director Jerry Chabola, Principal Pam Magee, Coach Scott Mair, Asst. Principal Ian Drummond and Ms. Cohn’s father, John — are scheduled to sit down late tomorrow in quest of a solution.
Going in, John Cohn said his single objective will be to gain reinstatement for his daughter on the girls soccer team. Last November, the coach excluded her from the roster on the grounds her team obligations would clash with a previous commitment to the YMCA’s Youth and Government program.
With the exception of dissenting Karlo Silbiger, the newly restocked Board said that a disagreement over policy between a coach and student was beyond their purview. They maintained that coaches should be allowed to coach and make policy as each sees fit without interference from the School District.
The Board rejected an argument by some community speakers that students should be permitted, even encouraged, to accumulate numerous extra-curricular affiliations, the more polish to apply to their college applications.
Speaking after the Board had been polled, Mr. Zeidman said that he was in a unique position. As a student at Culver High 30 years ago, he participated in the YMCA program that has been not only criticized but vilified, Youth and Government. He said Mr. Cohn, father of the player, is a friend, and that he went to Culver High at the same time as Mr. Mair, the coach at the vortex of the case.
Acting effective ly as spokesperson for the Board, Mr. Zeidman said, “My thoughts, however, are not based upon my personal relationships and experiences, but rather upon what a Board of Education does and what it doesn’t do. TheBoard makes policies. Other than dealing with suspensions, we don’t deal with individual students. If we did, we would be doing it all day long.”
He said conflicts are a part of school life. “Many times students need to make difficult choices,” Mr. Zeidman said. (It was reported later that another student in last night’s audience had been given an ultimatum by Coach Mair, pick soccer or Youth and Government.)
“The coach runs his or her team,” Mr. Zeidman said, “no differently than a teacher runs his or her class. Some teachers give more tests than others. Some require more reading, some more writing. Grading varies from teacher to teacher. As a Board, we don’t second-guess teachers’ rules or grade. If a student has an issue with a teacher, it should be brought to the teacher, and, if needed, to the principal. It is simply not a matter for the Board of Education.”
From a Parent’s Viewpoint
Mr. Cohn, a daily essayist for this newspaper, said he was “disappointed at the preliminary sentiment expressed by several Board members. But I am very gratified by the results we have obtained so far.”
Along with what he said was a lack of notification of policy change by the coach, the father believes the case may be illumining a path for future conflicts.
“In the past, issues like this have remained buried in the shadows and smothered in the bureaucracy of time,” Mr. Cohn said. “Although I did not expect an overnight change, by publicly challenging the coach's decision to ban my daughter from soccer, we have made significant strides for future students who seek to broaden their educational experience beyond the academic and stadium walls.
“Not only did we energize and inform the community about this problem, we now have established lines of communication that never before existed. As a result of our efforts, for the first time, both the school and the YMCA are coordinating their programs to better serve students who want to participate in Youth and Government without jeopardizing their sports eligibility.
“While we are disappointed that there was no action item on the agenda for the Board to decide, a majority of its members recognized that there was a serious problem with notification to student and their parents. Based on the statements of Members Gourley, Silbiger and Zeidman, it now appears the Board is prepared to establish guidelines requiring that all changes affecting athletic eligibility to be plainly published on the school website well ahead of the start of any competition season.
“On a personal note, we are pleased that the Board has directed the key players in this drama to meet in an attempt to find a resolution that can salvage my daughter's final soccer season. My hope is that, as Board Member Zeidman suggested, everyone involved, including the coach and Athletic Director, are open-minded enough to craft a solution that not only preserves the integrity of the team, but allows Maya to part with fond memories of her last days at Culver High.
The dispute — can a student committed to an after-school program simultaneously compete on an athletic team? — has driven a community debate for more than a month.
Weeks ago, Culver High leaders had hinted that the true reason for Ms. Cohn’s exclusion was an allegedly broken promise at the end of last soccer season. The Cohn family is frustrated because their daughter parried the same two commitments as a sophomore and junior without a complaint from the coach.
In his first appearance on this subject before the School Board, Mr. Chabola, the director of athletics, once again indicated that more than a so-called conflict was at issue, that there really was a busted promise. Mr. Cohn denied the assertion.
