Report: Bellevue holds off firing of Coach Butch Goncharoff
Jul 5, 2016, 6:31 PM | Updated: 9:59 pm
The Bellevue School District initially intended to fire football coach Butch Goncharoff. But the district is now holding off on that plan and has placed the coach on administrative leave.
Related: Bellevue School District may halt relationship with football booster club
The administrative leave is “non-disciplinary,” the Seattle Times reports. Goncharoff’s attorney, Bob Sulkin, argues that the district is claiming it is non-disciplinary so that Goncharoff cannot fight the action.
Bellevue High School’s football program came under fire after an investigation into its practices alleged that it was using a private academy to funnel out-of-district players into the team. Then it was revealed that the booster club was paying an organization to put on summer football camps — that money filtered down to Goncharoff and added up to $420,000 since 2009. That is a violation of district policy, officials have argued. The coach is barred from making money from his position outside of his job.
Goncharoff has called the investigations and the district’s response a “setup.”
The district also decided to sever its relationship with Assistant Coach Pat Jones who has also protested the district’s decision. Jones is now also on administrative leave, according to the Times.
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