Fired Coach Angered by Public Airing of Sex Claim

Ventura Community College trustees were armed with a laundry list of 17 reasons for firing basketball coach Virgil Watson, including poor teaching ability, allegations of recruiting violations and lack of basic communication and math skills.

But after Watson showed up at Tuesday night’s board meeting with a squad of more than 75 supporters, Chancellor Phil Westin dropped the bombshell--noting that Watson had been the target of a sexual harassment allegation.

Watson and his attorney, Lou Carpiac, were outraged that the matter was brought up in public. Carpiac accused Westin of character assassination, saying that a retired judge hired by the district dismissed the complaint, ruling that it was consensual sex between two adults.

Westin responded that it was actually he, not the judge, who cleared Watson of the allegations, but that his concern was for “ethical, moral and potential legal considerations because there had been sexual intercourse with a student.”

The state Education Code states that any sexual advance by a teacher to a student is considered unprofessional and could be cause for dismissal, demotion or suspension.

The woman, whose name has not been released, was a student, but she was not in Watson’s class. Carpiac said he and his client had been assured that the sexual incident would not be made public, nor would it be a factor in deciding whether to fire Watson.

“We were told by both the chancellor and the board’s attorney that the alleged sexual harassment would not be a basis for the decision,” he said. “They told us that if Virgil wanted to make it an issue in public that they would have no choice but to deal with it, but that they would not initiate discussion on it.”

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The chancellor said the harassment claim shows a lack of judgment on Watson’s part. By having sexual relations with a student, the coach could have placed the district in a precarious legal situation, said David Bender, the district’s attorney.

Tuesday night’s open discussion of personnel issues was a rarity. Public agencies usually handle such matters in closed-door sessions, but Watson asked to air the issue in public.

The board voted 4 to 1 not to renew his contract.

Peer review evaluations read by Westin cited deficiencies in Watson’s ability to communicate effectively and perform mathematical computations, and noted that he provides little or no instruction to the students and that his grading system is inconsistent.

“Peer evaluation does not look at how perfect you are--it looks for improvements you can make,” Watson said Wednesday. “They’ll automatically be critical, and that’s fine. But it went from that to last night saying I’m no good.

“They asked me to resign and I didn’t. So now they showed everyone in the district who they are and how powerful they are.”

Carpiac said he will file an appeal with the district within the next couple of weeks, before the 30-day limit expires.

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The American Federation of Teachers--the community college teachers’ union--will represent Watson in issues that deal with potential violation of his contract rights, said Harry Korn, the federation’s Grievance Committee chairman.

At issue is why the district hired Watson when it knew he did not possess a master’s degree, why he wasn’t given a mentor or time to improve his teaching skills, and why the sexual allegation that had been previously dismissed was used to stir the pot, Carpiac said.

“There is no due process with this charge. We will file an appeal based on technical grounds. There is a hidden agenda going on here,” Carpiac said.

Watson replaced Phil Mathews as basketball coach on an interim basis before the 1995-96 season, and led the team to its second consecutive state championship. He was hired as a full-time instructor and coach at Ventura for this school year.

Watson has a California community college teaching credential, but an evaluator questioned his academic preparation because of his difficulty with mathematical computations and his writing ability, said Larry Calderon, Ventura Community College president.

In addition to allegations that Watson violated Western State Conference recruiting regulations, Calderon said the coach is also under investigation with regard to reporting expenditures.

Evaluations occur annually, and if deficiencies are found, the college president, tenure review committee, chancellor and board of trustees decide what course of action to take.

In this instance, the tenure review committee had originally decided not to recommend termination of Watson’s contract until it met with Calderon and discussed his findings.

Instead of allowing Watson to respond to the findings, college officials decided to not continue his contract because his teaching skills were at such a low level, Calderon said.

“The committee’s findings were in regard to the largest part of his contractual obligations--which is teaching,” Calderon said, noting that about three-fourths of Watson’s job responsibilities are to teach.

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Calderon said he believed the large number of Watson supporters turned out chiefly because they are concerned about the program, not so much about the coach.

“The success and the size of the basketball program was based on what Coach Phil Mathews had developed before he took a job at the University of San Francisco,” he said. “The community support is still viable and widespread.”

Many students said they didn’t understand why Watson’s contract was not renewed.

“It’s wrong because he is someone who is such a big success and brings so much money to the school,” said freshman Hahdinn Cousins. “They should help him if he’s not a qualified teacher because good basketball coaches are hard to come by. It will be a loss.”

Westin was out of town and could not be reached for comment. All of the trustees, including Robert Gonzales, who was the lone dissenting vote, declined to comment, citing possible litigation.

* COACH TALKS

Virgil Watson says he is unsure about his future. C11