Crooked athletic director: blow whistle?

In an ideal world, yes you should say something. However, if you of a different ethnic group than the AD, then you need to be super extra careful and, well, decide that this is worth your job.

Anonymity is cowardly, but could be key to your survival.

And, finally,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNzIG-0XxVw

Meet face to face with a member of the school board and tell them your suspicions. Let the school board investigate since they would have the authority to audit works records, financial books, etc. If money is as tight in your school district as the rest of the country, they will make the necessary corrections. If they do nothing, well, at least you did the morally correct action and tried.

Since most school jobs in the usa are union jobs, here's my advice as a union president: document everything! You need to go back and write down everything sketchy that you've seen and the dates and names involved. And from here forward do the same thing. Then present this to whomever is appropriate in your case (school board?) in writing. Then you will not have to fear any sort of retaliation because it will be documented that you filed a complaint or whatever and since "retaliation" is the current huge no-no in employment discrimination law, you'll be protected. (or have an easy to win case on your hands).

But if you are still afraid of retaliation, just leak your list of misdeeds out anonymously and sit back and see if anything happens.s

Soooo what you saying is the bruthers have taken a page out of whitey's playbook and have an ole boy network going.

Thanks, LetsRun.

I have been documenting everything, actually, but the more i ask around, the shadier everyone seems in this department. In other words, ratting out the AD means ratting out numerous other "long-established" coaches who--while they ain't doing nothing for kids--are still seen as "well-established" by community members.

I like going to a board member, although you are right--I'm a new white guy in an urban school district.

It's a real shame, because these kids are good students and good athletes. It's the adults working in these schools that ruin everything for them.

Send an email to an authentic journalist / press reporter at your local print newspaper. If it's good the reporter can dig up the facts and make a big deal out of it for you.

The Press wrote:

Send an email to an authentic journalist / press reporter at your local print newspaper. If it's good the reporter can dig up the facts and make a big deal out of it for you.

This will be right behind the lost kitten story on the reporter's "to do" list.

Welcome to the real world. The more you're at that school the less shady this practice will appear. Your longer-tenured coaches and faculty have likely been screwed for years and have figured out a small way to exploit the system. I doubt any of your colleagues are flying private jets with the extra money picked up scorekeeping and chaperoning.

I have a similar problem. I am an assistant coach not getting paid much, we have a few Grad Assistants who get tuition remission, stipend, plus room and board. This would not bother me normally.

One of our GA's has not taken one single class yet, technically did not even get admitted into the grad school in any program, yet still takes the stipend, free housing, and full meal plan. Also he complains about the whole situation (which is actually more annoying than the rest of it).

In addition he has been lying on his recruiting reimbursements- we get paid per mile if we drive our own car somewhere, but we are supposed to take a rental if we go more than 2 hours away. He has taken his personal car on several trips this year- mostly to see his girlfriend (4 hrs away), compete in meets, go home (3 hrs away), go to his alma mater (2 hrs away)...and has claimed them all as "recruiting" and has apparently bragged to another coach about how he has gotten "thousands of dollars" out of the school for all this, and that he has not talked to a single recruit since the fall. By the end of the season all but 2 of his athletes quit the team, citing that he is "hard to work with".

I would love to get an essentially free Master's degree from this school- and could care less if I did not get everything else that the GA's get. I'd glady take tuition only.

Is there is a good way to bring this up to someone without looking like a complete moron? If it came down to it I am sure we could prove that he did NOT recruit all those weekends he said he was. I have nothing to hide as I have done everything by the book this year.

Opinions? What would you guys do?

do you stand up to injustice and risk your name, or

save your name and say nothing.

I've stood up for something I believed in before and subsequently got the beat down for it- even though lots of others shared my opinion, I was the sacrificial lamb.

This, however, is a completely different situation and I don't think it would ruin my name to say something. Our AD is big on sticking to our budget and trying to make cut backs, like I am sure many are- it was even discussed in a staff meeting that we needed to keep our recruiting budgets in check with no unnecessary spending, including taking personal cars on trips. It costs the school much more money to pay an employee to drive their own car versus taking a rental for a day and paying for gas.

how does the head coach not notice that?

if you knew our head coach, you'd understand. He is the one signing off on all of these recruiting forms, before they go to the AD's office.

This is why I am not sure whether to bring it up to him, the AD, the AD's secretary who I think deals mainly with these forms and reimbursements but not the hiring/firing of employees, human resources, the financial office, etc.

Are you prepared to be let go? That can be a sad but true happening. As someone else said document everything.

I think you should always blow the whistle. Corruption needs to be stopped everywhere...and it takes moral men (and women) to do so.

A couple of years ago in high school my school hired a dips##t of an xc coach and I absolutely hated him. It was my senior year, my cross season was a wash, but I knew for the sake of the program and my track season I had to get rid of this guy. So I sent an anonymous email to the principal and school AD about his actions and how he was running runners under other people's names at meets. They actually interviewed runners from the team to see if the allegations were accurate, and once the facts were confirmed he was fired immediately. Just do what I did; set up a temporary email account, and present them with the evidence and let the people in charge do their jobs.

I know this sounds obvious, but if at all possible I would engage a lawyer before blowing the whistle on anyone. In particular, I would want to know the anti-retaliation laws that would apply to the situation, and what steps to take to protect myself. Note that even an anonymous e-mail is often not so anonymous. To be effective, a anonymous communication must have sufficient factual detail, and that over time often belies the identity of the author. In many cases, an attorney can present the facts on behalf of his anonymous client. This way, the authorities know there is representation and are much less inclined to engage in retaliation.

Isn't that what the tip jar is for?

Free Advice wrote:

Meet face to face with a member of the school board and tell them your suspicions. Let the school board investigate since they would have the authority to audit works records, financial books, etc. If money is as tight in your school district as the rest of the country, they will make the necessary corrections. If they do nothing, well, at least you did the morally correct action and tried.

Wrong.

Write each member of the school board individually, anonymously.

Include a sentence that states that your writing to them has not due to a grudge or a personal conflict, only that you notice a situation that isn't fair.