Lafayette Community Rallies Support For Wheeler

By Amber Lester Kennedy Friday, January 28, 2011

The Lafayette High School community is rallying behind football coach Paul Wheeler, who announced last week that he would be resigning, albeit against his will.

Players, parents and students plan to appear in the audience at the Feb. 1 meeting of the Williamsburg-James City County School Board, wearing the Rams’ colors of blue and yellow to show their support for Wheeler to be reinstated as head coach.

Last Thursday, Wheeler revealed a player’s parent had brought a complaint about his treatment of the student to the Lafayette High School administration in October. At that time, Principal Anita Swinton and Athletic Director Dan Barner investigated the complaint and dismissed it, Wheeler said. The parent then spoke with Assistant Superintendent of Academic Services Dianna Lindsay, who sided with the parent.

Wheeler said he decided at that time to submit his resignation, in hopes of not becoming a distraction to his players. He reconsidered, however, and asked to retract his resignation. Lindsay denied his request, and he told WY Daily she refused to meet with him to discuss the matter, instead referring him to Director of Human Resources Jon Andre.

In his 10 seasons with Lafayette, Wheeler’s record was 82-31. In addition to winning a state championship in 2001 and two Region I championships, he led the Rams to three Bay Rivers District titles and five regional playoff appearances. He will continue to be employed by the school as a history teacher.

Since Wheeler made his announcement, the Lafayette community has started an Internet campaign to show support for his cause. Last Friday, Rams player Brandon Fetty created a Facebook page, called “I Support Coach Wheeler." One week later, more than 180 people had joined the group.

Earlier this week, Charlie Marcotte, whose son Andrew played on the team until his graduation in 2009, started circulating an online petition asking new Superintendent Steven Constantino to revisit the decision.

“Coach Wheeler means an awful lot to my family,” Marcotte said Thursday. “He was instrumental in the raising of my son, just because my son played football so many years.” He added that he’s seen the concern in Wheeler’s eyes and in his heart when his players graduate, and he’s seen Wheeler under pressure, having to acknowledge when the players make mistakes.

As of Thursday afternoon, the petition had 188 signatures, from current and former players, parents and community members. Many of the signers left comments praising Wheeler’s coaching ability, mentorship and values.

“Coach Paul Wheeler is a great coach. While it may be hard to respect him when he’s getting on your butt, looking back, everything he did was to win and teach young kids values and discipline,” wrote Thomas Rice. “If James City County lost Coach Paul Wheeler, it will have lost a great coach, mentor and person.”

Marcotte wanted to speak before the School Board, but the board’s bylaws require confidentiality in personnel matters. As such, citizens making public comments are not allowed to say an employee’s name, position or discuss hirings or firings. Instead, the board has agreed to meet with Marcotte for 15 minutes prior to its public meeting Tuesday to hear his argument and allow him to submit the petition.

“I’m asking them to reopen the situation, get all sides and make sure the decision is fair,” he said, “because the public impression is that it’s not fair.”

Although he doesn’t expect the board to offer him an answer on Tuesday, Marcotte feels it helps for the community to voice its displeasure. “Even if all this hoopla does is make it better for the next person, even if all it does is teach the students that when you see something wrong, it’s your responsibility to step up, be proactive and be heard, it will have been worth it,” he said.

The School Board will meet at 7 p.m. in the City Council chambers of the Stryker Building in Williamsburg. Other items on the agenda include discussions about choosing new math textbooks and reviewing the division’s compensation strategy. It will be the first meeting for Constantino, who comes to the division from Cobb County, Ga.