Outraged parents seek answers from Fort principal

By: | News Virginian
Published: June 17, 2008

FORT DEFIANCE — More than 20 parents gathered Monday night at Fort Defiance High School to sound off on the firing of wrestling coach Terry Waters.
Principal Larry Landes said he will forward a letter to Waters in the next two weeks explaining the dismissal. Parents will be more confident in the decision after the letter is released to the former coach, he said.
The administrator said confidentiality restrictions prohibited him from disclosing details in the meantime.
Still, parents pressed for answers.
“I didn’t come here to be pacified,” Mookey Wilson, a former athlete under Waters, told Landes.
Waters’ firing earlier this month has kindled an outpouring of community support for the popular coach who guided the Indians to a 231-65 record over 14 seasons.
Wilson said parents might consider petitioning the school on Waters’ behalf.
Landes was unmoved.
“This is not a democracy,” he said. “This meeting was not to entertain input from the community. This will not change my decision.”
The principal refuted speculation that school Athletic Director Jack Tucker had a part in Waters’ firing. Landes said the decision was his.
“Forget it, we want answers,” Wilson said, “but you’re not going to give them to us, because this wasn’t your decision. Jack Tucker is involved in this.”
Tucker neither attended the meeting nor returned phone calls after it.
Landes said the school planned to hire a new coach in a month.
“I can tell you he will have the credentials,” Landes said.
Jennifer Strother, another parent, said credentials mattered little in Waters’ case.
“This is political,” she said. “Nobody wants the other to do better than them. I think that’s what happened with Coach Waters. They want to homogenize sports and what happens in the classroom — lower the bar. Coach Waters is deaf and I don’t think that they wanted to take the time with him. It’s very easy to misinterpret something because of that.”
Waters has said Landes cited the coach’s lack of a relationship with other coaches as the reason for the firing.
“I told him how can I have a relationship with people who never gave me a chance when I first got to Fort,” Waters said in a June 10 text message.
Waters could not be reached for comment Monday.