In his suddenly mercurial quest for a perception of justice, coupled with reinstatement, for his daughter, John Cohn, a Culver City High School parent, scored his most impressive victory last night.
A mere 8 days after his case went public in this newspaper, Mr. Cohn successfully petitioned the School Board, the ultimate authority, to study the details surrounding his senior class daughter’s exclusion from the girls soccer team, currently in season.
In a separate potentially dramatic development, Mr. Cohn this afternoon won a waiver of a school confidentiality policy, which supposedly has curtained over an undisclosed fact.
No sooner had the financial columnist completed his plea for an investigation into her rejection than new Board President Steve Gourley spoke up.
Next Meeting — Maybe
He said he favored placing the subject on the Board agenda, probably for the next meeting, Tuesday, Jan.12. Mr. Gourley’s obviously popular call promptly was endorsed by his colleagues, three of whom were participating in their first meeting.
The Board verdict represents a meaningful triumph for the Cohn cause and a setback for Culver High.
School officials have hoped since last week that scrutiny would evaporate, due to a lack of new details.
Indeed, the opposite has occurred.
District sources attributed the continuing public interest, at least in part, on a statement last week by Culver High Principal Pam Magee. She indicated that Mr. Cohn was not revealing a critical component of the story, which, by policy, she said she was forbidden to disclose.
In an effort to shake loose further movement, Mr. Cohn today turned to District Supt. Dr. Myrna Rivera Cote for additional relief. After the Principal’s statement last week, Mr. Cohn said he telephoned Ms. Magee but did not receive a return call.
What Will be Next?
Mr. Cohn told Dr. Cote he wanted to waive the issue of confidentiality, and the Superintendent pressed him. “Are you certain?” she asked. “Yes,” he said.
It is not known whether that will cause new information to be released.
The next move remains to be made, and it is expected to come from the Superintendent’s office.
Mr. Cohn told Dr. Cote he wanted her to see the 200 student signatures on a petition his daughter recently has circulated. The complaint states their opposition “any ad hoc policy that excludes students from pursuing extra curricular activities that are educationally beneficial.”
Meanwhile, the clock is ticking on the girls soccer season, recently underway. Only two School Board meetings are scheduled between now and the end of the regular season in early February — a crucial fact if Ms. Cohn is to win reinstatement.
Neither the Cohn family nor the new Board President know what will happen when the five members sit down to scrutinize the competing claims, by the family and by Culver High officials, either on Jan. 12 or Jan. 26.
“The Board should have a discussion about separate (eligibility) policies (now in place) by each coach and each sport,” Mr. Gourley said. “Where that will lead us, I don’t know. I also am not sure we would direct that there be a clear written policy.
“All I know is that it is important we just give a sense of how we feel about this.”
The Board President left no doubt that the dispute between family and school is not a pedestrian case of yet another unhappy student complaining about being left off a team. “This is an important issue,” Mr. Gourley said.
The still unexplained rejection of third-year veteran Maya Cohn by Coach Scott Mair, reportedly over a lately tightened eligibility policy, is a seemingly routine story that has caught fire and sped to the controlling authority in perhaps record time.
The case has captured commanding attention in spite of the fact that it is wracked with generalities and vague assertions that have created a sometimes foggy storyline.
The only known explanation for Ms. Cohn’s rejection by the coach is that she belongs the YMCA group Youth and Government, where her responsibilities as an officer assertedly will force her to miss a second playoff game, in mid-February, if the team qualifies.
District sources indicated that the uncommon eloquence of the petitioner’s father has been crucial in driving and accelerating the case through a procedural system that routinely takes much longer.
After Mr. Cohn and his daughter separately addressed the School Board last night, Coach Dave Sanchez spoke on behalf of Athletic Director Jerry Chabola who had a charitable commitment elsewhere.
Mr. Sanchez stressed that students need to learn to take responsibilities for commitment of their time, a theme the school has repeatedly emphasized since this story broke open.
Mr. Chabola said he was not surprised that the case has leaped ahead so fast since three-fifths of the Board is new. They are doubtless as eager to tackle new assignments, he said, as he was when he was a beginning teacher.
