ESCANABA, Mich. (WZMQ) – After 40 years with Escanaba Area Public Schools, the district’s gymnastics coach was fired last month. In our continuing coverage of the situation, WZMQ 19 spoke with the district superintendent to get the school’s side of the story.
“As a district, generally we don’t comment openly on personnel matters,” Superintendent Dr. Coby Fletcher said. “It takes really extraordinary circumstances for us to do that.”
This became one of those circumstances on Monday, when a large crowd attended a school board meeting in support of former gymnastics coach Theresa Pascoe.
In January, Pascoe had her sister—a former gymnastics coach—fill in for her at a practice without undergoing a background check, which Escanaba Athletic Director Nate Zaremba called a liability. In March, Zaremba cited that “liability” in Pascoe’s termination letter.
While Pascoe believes the punishment doesn’t fit the crime, Fletcher says there is more to the story. He released a statement on Tuesday that describes concerns about Pascoe “co-mingling” Escanaba’s gymnastics programs with other schools’ programs.
“We’re often approached by other schools to develop co-ops,” he said. “We offer substantially more sports and extracurricular opportunities than most of the districts around us. The board has taken the stance—for at least the last eight years that I’ve been here—that no Escanaba student should ever be disadvantaged or deprived of an opportunity to participate because somebody from another school district has taken their spot on a team.”
Documents WZMQ 19 obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request detail the issue, showing that last school year, Bark River’s gymnastics program planned to practice at Pascoe’s private gym. Much of Escanaba’s gymnastics equipment was housed at her gym at that time.
The district agreed to the arrangement, noting that the teams could not practice together or share equipment. However, a student later complained that they had practiced with Bark River students several times.
“Everybody should have the opportunity to improve and not repeat the same mistakes,” said Fletcher. “When that doesn’t happen, then it becomes a situation where the board or the district—depending on the employee—has to consider action.”
Documentation shows the district gave Pascoe another “opportunity” to coach this school year but advised that further issues would not be tolerated. The background check incident came to be one of those issues.
When asked about his statement and Pascoe’s termination letter not listing the same events, Fletcher responded, “You can’t put everything in a single statement. Typically, those statements are brief, they’re vetted by our attorneys—who also like to use their own particular language—and they just can’t encompass everything. You’ve got statements in the statement like, ‘among other concerns.’ There are multiple concerns, and they were all valid.”
Many gymnastics families have expressed concerns bout the program’s future. Fletcher says the district intends to fill Pascoe’s position and keep the program moving forward.
“I’ve worked in public schools for 30 years,” he said. “A coach can be the face of a program, but I’ve never seen a coach be the program or be the identity of a program. I understand that anytime you deal with a longtime employee, that’s somebody that people have become attached to, understandably. One of the great things about our community is that folks are so involved in athletics. They have had the opportunity to become close to educators and coaches in their lives. At the end of the day, if people are passionate about something, it’s a good sign. It becomes challenging when the narrative goes to attacking other people or attacking other things. The district is never not going to act with the best interests of our students in mind.”
Click here to read more of Fletcher’s statement. To hear from Pascoe and a family in the gymnastics program, click here.
