Maplewood Richmond Heights School District has issued a statement in response to this story which ran earlier this week. The full statement from Karen I. Hall, superintendent at MRH School District is as follows:
August 14, 2014
Statement from Superintendent Karen I. Hall Regarding the MRH Athletics Program
Recently, comments were made in the press regarding the Maplewood Richmond Heights football program and its players. The remarks do not accurately reflect the spirit or true nature of our athletics program, our district, or our community. The MRH administration and Board of Education have always been committed to a quality and honorable athletics program, and to the success of our students on, and off, the field.
Each year, the number of students involved in sports and other after-school activities fluctuates depending on many factors. This fall, despite having one of our smallest incoming freshman classes, we have brought back cross-country for its second year and we are seeing a record number of students participate in soccer. This is in addition to the numerous other clubs and activities that our students are joining.
We also highly value and appreciate the school districts that we compete against. Our neighbor and long-time friend, the Brentwood School District, has always been a worthy adversary providing both of our districts the opportunity for friendly competition and the display of school spirit and pride.
Most importantly, we have complete faith in our students and their ability to thrive and prosper. Each day they inspire us with their capacity to achieve success in the classroom, work as a team, exhibit hard work and effort, and represent our community as positive role models.
We will continue to work with our staff, coaches, and our community, to instill the four cornerstones of our district – leadership, scholarship, stewardship, and citizenship – into each and every student. That has been, and will always be, the true spirit of MRH.
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A Maplewood – Brentwood Football co-op is long over due. Swallowing egos and putting the kids first is a whole different issue.
As I have said for several years. …. Ask the kids. They know who lives in the district and who doesnt.
I give the coach credit for putting it out there – it’s been obvious for years.
While this statement does offer some possible explanations on why numbers are lower, it is a lot of fluff that tries to give the appearance that there are no significant issues at MRH and we love everyone, even our rivals. The coach may have overstepped his knowledge on why fewer kids were turning out, but that is a separate issue of how the football program is being run, which is not truly addressed in the letter. If the coach admits to not “doing things by the book” and the superintendent later says MRH has “always been committed to a quality and honorable athletics program,” it is pretty obvious who I am going to believe- the guy who was there in the weight room and practice field with the players telling them how they were going to make the starting squad and play at the next level. Ms. Hall missed the opportunity here to comment on why and how MRH is ensuring a “clean program” is executed- a welcomed change to the very high pressured football world where winning is primary and players’ health is secondary.