{"id":288145,"date":"2017-12-13T08:30:13","date_gmt":"2017-12-13T15:30:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=288145"},"modified":"2017-12-13T11:29:57","modified_gmt":"2017-12-13T18:29:57","slug":"hs-water-polo-coach-stuck-in-limbo-after-misconduct-charges-fail-to-escalate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/hs-water-polo-coach-stuck-in-limbo-after-misconduct-charges-fail-to-escalate\/","title":{"rendered":"Prominent HS Water Polo Coach Stuck in Limbo After Misconduct Charges Fail to Escalate"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Michael Randazzo, Swimming World Contributor<\/em><\/p>\n

In these charged times, when accusations of improper sexual conduct by public figures seem to crop up daily, the events that have transpired over the last seven months of Randall \u201cRandy\u201d Burgess\u2019s<\/strong> life should not, perhaps, be entirely shocking. Considered one of California top high school water polo coaches\u2014with three Olympians as former players\u2014Burgess has been fighting for his professional career due to allegations of sexual assault, which thus far have proven baseless.<\/p>\n

Especially distressing to Burgess, with more than three decades experience as an educator in the San Diego County public school system, is that co-workers with whom he has worked for years sought to bar him from his tenured position at Coronado High School, because \u2014as his lawyer, Matthew Herron<\/strong> alleges\u2014they were more concerned with issues of liability than upholding the excellent reputation of a highly respected member of this seaside community minutes away from downtown San Diego.<\/p>\n

\"coronado_sunset-burgess\"

Coronado sunset. Photo Courtesy: John McCauley<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cNone of the proceedings that apply to public employees that require some sort of charge, a hearing\u2014what you might call due process\u2014none of that was put in place,\u201d Herron said in a recent telephone conversation from his office in San Diego.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m appalled at the way the Coronado Unified School District treated Randy,\u201d said John McCauley<\/strong>, who has known Burgess since 1994 and played four years for him at Coronado High School. \u201cI think they should be held accountable. And Randy has been devastated over this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Allegation Versus Reputation<\/strong><\/p>\n

Burgess, over the course of his long career as a teacher and coach, has compiled an exceptional record in California water polo. The most obvious indicators of his success are the three Olympians who played for Burgess at Coronado: Genai Kerr<\/strong>, Jesse Smith<\/strong>, and Layne Beaubien<\/strong>. According to McCauley, captain of the men\u2019s water polo team his senior year, a number of NCAA Division I \u201csuperstars\u201d came out of Coronado specifically because of its coach.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was not this abundance of talent in Coronado; it’s a very small town,\u201d McCauley said. \u201cThe common denominator between success and all these people is Randy Burgess.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"burgess_DEC17_02\"

Photo Courtesy: Coronado Eagle & Journal<\/p><\/div>\n

But Burgess\u2019s professional and private lives began to unravel last April, when District Superintendent Karl Mueller<\/strong> was notified of a government tort claim filed against the district on March 29, 2017 alleging sexual abuse. According to testimony provided in Superior Court of the State of California on September 6, 2017, Mueller testified that he reacted swiftly to the serious accusation, though it appears to some that in so doing he disregarded Burgess\u2019s decades of blemish-free service to children in Coronado\u2019s tightly knit community.<\/p>\n

The original charges against Burgess were shocking and seemed outlandish; he was accused of sexually molesting a minor in 2012 in the public bathrooms adjacent to the Coronado High School pool. Burgess vehemently denied this claim, and a September 27, 2017 article<\/a> in The Coronado Eagle & Journal<\/em> reported his response to the allegations: \u201cThe individual [in question] was a seventh grader, who I have never met, never taught, never coached and never had him under my supervision at any point, anywhere. I did not know this person in any capacity.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to attorney Herron, the CUSD Board and supervisor knew approximately one month after removing Burgess from the premises that the allegations against him were in doubt. The district responded to the original civil claim by formally disputing the charges. But not only did his supervisor decline to notify him of this development, Burgess continued to be barred from using the high school facilities.<\/p>\n

Then occurred a further blow to Burgess\u2019s prestige and livelihood. Polo in Paradise<\/strong>, a nationally known water polo camp that Burgess founded and has been involved with for the past 30 years, and is entirely separate from any of his responsibilities with Coronado High School, was scheduled to begin in June of this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was told he could not participate in that program on the [Coronado High School] pool deck,\u201d said Herron. Burgess said that a text from Rita Beyers<\/strong>, Assistant Superintendent, threatened him with dismissal if he showed up at the pool.<\/p>\n

When asked for comment, Kami McElligott<\/strong>, Executive Assistant to the Superintendent\/Board, Coronado Unified School District, responded via email: \u201cThe district did not receive any communication from Mr. Burgess regarding the event in question nor did the district send Mr. Burgess any communication regarding the event.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ostensibly, as he testified in court, Mueller\u2019s concern was for the safety of students, but in a testy exchange among Herron, Mueller and Sam Sherman, the district\u2019s lawyer, Mueller in essence admitted that Burgess, whom he knew personally for seven years, was not a danger to the students.<\/p>\n

But he was a danger to the financial stability of the school district.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Truth Sets Randy Free\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

There has been a tremendous outpouring of backing for Burgess. Of his defenders, John McCauley is the most determined and has solicited 1,200 signatures to a petition attesting Burgess\u2019s innocence. All the details of the case easily roll off his tongue, and it was his social media efforts publicizing his former coach\u2019s plight that connected an extensive network of supporters. \u201cI can attribute all my success to what Randy taught me,\u201d he said in a telephone conversation.<\/p>\n

\"mccauley_burgess_DEC17\"

John McCauley , Randy Burgess. Photo Courtesy: John McCauley<\/p><\/div>\n

Scrolling through an online petition<\/a> of support uncovers some of the biggest names in the sport, including Adam Krikorian<\/strong>, head coach for the U.S. Women\u2019s Senior National Team, and Bruce Watson<\/strong><\/a>, a long-time community college coach who for the past three years has led the men\u2019s program at San Jose State.<\/p>\n

The main focus of McCauley\u2019s and the signatories\u2019 wrath is not the unnamed individual who made the allegations, but the hierarchy of the CUSD. \u201cWe are completely targeting the superintendent of Coronado Unified School District, Karl Mueller, the assistant superintendent, Rita Byers, and the [board] president, Maria Simon,\u201d McCauley said. \u201cThey decided to side with an insurance company over the real concerns of the Coronado community and the real safety of the students and teachers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI have known Randy Burgess for over 30 years as a coach and friend, and the sport of water polo is a family and very close.\u201d Bruce Watson wrote. \u201cI have coached on the high school, community college and now the university level, and I have never interacted with a more positive role model for his students and athletes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can only hope that the financial pressure to protect a school district will not be allowed to continue to tarnish and negatively affect the life and coaching history of someone like Randy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Preponderance of Evidence vs. Innocent Until Proven Guilty <\/strong><\/p>\n

Despite triggering what may prove to be a miscarriage of justice, the actions by the CUSD leadership have a clear basis in legal responsibility for ensuring the safety of its students, as well as for steering clear of what might be a financial quagmire. Title IX\u2014the landmark 1972 law that mandated equal rights for both sexes with regard to educational opportunities\u2014also now mandates how sexual assault is to be handled in public schools around the country. And in the light of the current wave of allegations as well as those recently past\u2014think Jerry Sandusky<\/strong>\u2014the implications for both alleged accusers and the institutions they are associated with, it is perhaps understandable, if not particularly evenhanded, that Burgess was ostracized.<\/p>\n

The Sandusky criminal case at Penn State is, of course, a potent tale of caution and the proximate reason why institutions will continue to perhaps be overcautious regarding any suggestion of sexual impropriety occurring on their premises. Not only was Sandusky sentenced to up to 60 years in prison for 52 accounts of sexual abuse of young boys; Penn State Athletic Director Timothy Curley<\/strong>, Vice President Gary Schultz<\/strong> and President Graham Spanier<\/strong> were all convicted of child endangerment for covering up the abuse.<\/p>\n

\"CUSD_hearing_DEC17\"

CUSD School Board Meeting on Oct. 19 discussing Randy Burgess. Photo Courtesy: Coronado Times<\/p><\/div>\n

Herron, Burgess\u2019s lawyer, does not accept this rationalization. As he summed up, after all that his client endured, he was not exonerated\u2014perhaps because the school district\u2019s paramount concern is for its own reputation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to let you back in the classroom because we did not get sued,\u201d was how Herron paraphrased the CUSD response after Burgess was reinstated on November 27, a date that coincided with the closing of a six-month window the original claimant had to file suit against the district.<\/p>\n

Former player McCauley, who has four children, was adamant that the CUSD was concerned with itself first and foremost.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reason why that occurred is that the school district has to show that they\u2019re not negligent here,\u201d he said. \u00a0\u201cThe insurance company will tell that superintendent that that teacher needs to be put on paid administrative leave.\u201d<\/p>\n

The \u201cinsurance company\u201d McCauley alludes to is actually an arm of the San Diego County Office of Education. Known as the Risk Management Joint Powers Authority (JPA)<\/a>, it consists of 65 member districts and charter schools who purchase insurance programs that provide protection against both property and liability losses.<\/p>\n

Music Watson<\/strong>, APR, Chief Communications Officer for San Diego County Office of Education, pushed back against the impression that the JPA was calling the shots in deciding the fate of district employees.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs with the school districts that are members of the Risk Management Joint Powers Authority (JPA), our first priority is student safety and well-being,\u201d said Watson in an emailed statement. \u201cEach district and charter school has its own policies and procedures regarding investigations, discipline, etc. The JPA is not involved in those aspects of any cases in any way.\u201d<\/p>\n

He may be back in the classroom, but the threat to Burgess and other teachers remains. His reputation, of course, will never be the same, as the taint of an allegation of assault\u2014even one that is never proven\u2014is permanent.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt sets this precedent,\u201d McCauley said. \u201cIf somebody wants to allege something of a teacher to get them removed from a classroom, they can allege whatever they want.\u201d<\/p>\n

With reporting by Chip Brenner<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Michael Randazzo, Swimming World Contributor In these charged times, when accusations of improper sexual conduct by public figures seem to crop up daily, the events that have transpired over<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4875,"featured_media":288148,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,12],"tags":[3384,63385,65156,65164,65158,65159,51889,65160,65163,60192,65161,65155,65162,65157,54416],"class_list":["post-288145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-water-polo","tag-adam-krikorian","tag-bruce-watson","tag-coronado-high-school","tag-coronado-unified-school-district","tag-gary-schultz","tag-graham-spanier","tag-jerry-sandusky","tag-karl-mueller","tag-matthew-herron","tag-michael-randazzo","tag-polo-in-paradise","tag-randy-burgess","tag-rita-beyers","tag-timothy-curley","tag-water-polo"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\r\nProminent HS Water Polo Coach Stuck in Limbo After Misconduct Charges Fail to Escalate - 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