CLIFTON PARK Shen coach suspended over sex allegations District just learns Paretta lost certification in 1996 BY KATHY BOWEN Gazette Reporter
A Shenendehowa track coach who was hired in 1995 has been suspended after school officials discovered he lost his teaching certificate following an alleged sexual relationship with a student at a New York City school in 1990. Donald Paretta, boys’ varsity track and field coach, is expected to be fired by the Board of Education next week, according to School Superintendent Oliver Robinson. Paretta, 54, was suspended Wednesday after Robinson was informed by the state police and representatives of the state Education Department that the coach’s teaching certification was revoked in 1996, four years after the start of an investigation. District spokeswoman Kelly DeFeciani said Paretta never taught at the school. He was a part-time coach. DeFeciani said the state Education Department has a record from 1996 informing the school district of Paretta’s decertification, but the school district cannot find any record of being notifi ed. “It was 13 years ago and all the employees from that time are gone,” she said, referring to office staff that may have handled the notification. According to the state Education Department, the investigation began in 1992 into Paretta’s alleged sexual conduct with a teenage boy at the High School for the Humanities in Manhattan while Paretta was a physical education teacher and coach at the school in 1990. “[Paretta] engaged in sexual activity with a student while the student was 15 and 16 years of age and he submitted his resignation after the commencement of disciplinary charges,” a report by a state Education Department hearing officer said. Entries in the student’s journal, which described the sexual activity between the teen and Paretta, were discovered by the boy’s mother and reported to the school district and police. Police later recorded a phone conversation between the boy and Paretta in which he allegedly stated he wished to resume a sexual relationship. Paretta, who was then 38, was charged with sodomy and endangering the welfare of a child by police in Brooklyn, but the charges were later dropped. Paretta denied the allegations to police and the investigators from the state Education Department. Hearing Officer F. Patrick Jeffers wrote the final report on the investigation in 1995. He said the student’s journal entries were written in the fall and winter of 1990. There was also a note to the student in a graduation card written by Paretta in 1991. “Mr. Paretta gave the student $20 and [a] personally written note stating, ‘I will certainly miss your gorgeous face and great-looking body,’ ” Jeffers wrote in his report. He said Paretta admitted having several conversations with the student regarding sexual orientation and fantasies. He also took the teen to the Aqueduct Race Track and to his house. Those incidents alone indicate a lack of moral character on the part of the teacher, Jeffers said. The student’s admission that sexual relations had occurred and the note from Paretta saying he would miss the teen’s face and body were evidence of a sexual relationship, he said. “In my opinion, the facts clearly establish a sexual relationship existed between student and teacher and that the teacher was not averse to continuing that relationship after the student graduated. It is my conclusion the Department has established that Donald J. Paretta lacks the requisite moral character to continue to teach in the public schools of the state of New York,” he concluded. Commissioner of Education Richard Mills agreed and revoked Paretta’s certification in January 1996. In Clifton Park, state police Senior Investigator Patricia Donavan said local police were recently informed of the prior misconduct. “We looked into it, verified the facts and then apprised the Shenendehowa School District of the situation,” she said. Robinson said the district hired Paretta in 1995 when his credentials were in order. “At the time he was hired in 1995, his certification was still valid,” Robinson said in a message to parents. “The district just learned that at the time of hire, the state Education Department was undergoing the process of revoking his certification, which was complete in 1996.” She said Robinson informed Paretta he was through before track practice on Wednesday. Robinson said Paretta was suspended without pay. “This matter is still being reviewed by the school district, in conjunction with both the New York State Police and the state Education Department,” he said, adding that he urged parents to contact Donavan at the Clifton Park state police barracks if they have any information pertaining to Paretta. He said students with questions or concerns may contact him, the high school principal or the ..............http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....amp;EntityId=Ar00902
CLIFTON PARK Accused coach plans to fight for job Man lost certification amid allegations of sex with teen BY KATHY BOWEN Gazette Reporter
The attorney representing suspended Shenendehowa track coach Donald Paretta said his client denies all allegations of sexual abuse and plans to fight his expected dismissal. David Ehrlich said he plans to attend the Shenendehowa Board of Education meeting Tuesday when Superintendent of Schools Oliver Robinson will recommend that the board dismiss Paretta from his part-time $5,600-a-year coaching job. Robinson suspended Paretta after police and state Department of Education officials told him Paretta’s certification had been revoked in 1996 after a hearing focused on his alleged relationship with a male student at a Manhattan high school in 1990. Police began an investigation of the allegations in 1992 and Paretta was charged, but those charges were eventually dropped. Four years later, a hearing officer concluded that Paretta should be stripped of his teaching credentials after reviewing evidence including a taped phone conversation, which indicated that he had a sexual relationship with the teenager beginning when the boy was 15, according to the final hearing report. Paretta’s past was brought to the attention of state police in Clifton Park this week by a volunteer crime victims’ advocate in Albany, Robert Reese. Reese said he discovered that Paretta was coaching in Clifton Park and with a little research into state Education Department files, he found that Paretta was not eligible to coach. Paretta, 54, was hired as a boys’ track coach by the school district in the fall of 1995, when he still had certification to teach. Although he did not teach for the district, he was required to have a teaching or coaching certification to hold his part-time job. After Paretta’s certification was revoked by the Education Department in January 1996, the state sent a blanket notice to schools throughout the state. Robinson said the school district has no record of the notice and was not aware of Paretta’s status until Wednesday. Paretta also coached track at Columbia High School in East Greenbush in the 1980s. Ehrlich, of Albany, said Paretta was shocked to be suspended because he assumed that the district had known all along that he was not a certified teacher. “It was a public record, nothing that he hid. The district was notified in 1996. If Shen doesn’t open its mail, that’s not Coach Paretta’s issue,” Ehrlich said. “He plans to defend himself at the school board meeting next week.” He said that if Paretta changes his mind about attending, Ehrlich will appeal to the board. “The district is making a lot of noise about old accusations,” he said. “The criminal case was dismissed and [Paretta] made the mistake of representing himself at the state Education Department hearing.” Paretta, who was then 38, was charged in 1992 with sodomy and endangering the welfare of a child by police in Brooklyn, but the charges were later dropped. Paretta has been a part-time assistant coach of indoor and outdoor track at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute since December 2001, according to Kevin Beattie, the college athletics department’s spokesman. He said it is currently outdoor track season and Paretta is on campus when the team is practicing or competing. He said Paretta’s status at RPI has not changed since the news of his dismissal from Shen was announced. “I know the athletic department, administration or human resources people will do due diligence in investigating the situation,” Beattie said. “Maybe all three are investigating, I’m not sure.” Robinson said Paretta was suspended without pay. “This matter is still being reviewed by the school district, in conjunction with both the New York State Police and.........................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....amp;EntityId=Ar01302
CLIFTON PARK Track coach fired by Shen board Parents, students speak for Paretta BY LEE COLEMAN Gazette Reporter
Despite impassioned support from parents and students in his favor, the Shenendehowa Central School District Board of Education fired parttime track coach Don Paretta on Tuesday. More than 200 parents and students attended the meeting in the library of the Gowana Middle School. Board president Janet Grey and other board members said they had no choice. Paretta’s teaching certification was revoked in 1995 by the state Education Department and he could no longer be a coach in the district. He lost his certification after allegations of sexual impropriety with a 15-year-old. “We have no flexibility,” said board member Bill Casey. “It’s cut and dried. We have no choice.” Paretta, who had been a track and field coach in the 9,850-student school district for 14 years, addressed the board, explaining that he was charged in New York City with sexual misconduct in 1992 but the charge was dismissed. “I never took any plea and was never convicted of anything,” Paretta said. He said he represented himself at a state Education Department hearing in 1995 and, because of a lack of finances, didn’t hire a lawyer. “I represented myself at that hearing, which may have been the biggest mistake of my life,” he said. “No witnesses testified against me, yet I was not able to defend myself and my teaching license was revoked,” Paretta told the meeting. “At the time I began coaching at Shenendehowa, I did not need a coaching certificate to coach,” he said. “Shenendehowa never notified me that I needed to obtain additional certification and I did not know it was necessary.” The allegation involved a male student in New York City and the subsequent revocation of Paretta’s certification came to light when a volunteer crime victim’s advocate in Albany recently notified the state police in Clifton Park. Paretta, 54, who had been paid $5,600 per year by the district, said during his tenure the district’s track and field program “grew to local, state and national prominence.” When he finished his speech, the library erupted in applause. Students addressing the school board said Paretta was “a class act” who helped the student-athletes both on and off the sports field. One student-athlete said he had lost his father at a young age and Paretta became a father figure to him. “He taught me how to drive a car,” the student said. “He cares how his athletes perform on and off the field.” The students said the picture of Paretta being portrayed in newspaper and television stories is not accurate. “Coach is a caring and genuine person,” the student said. Douglas Shartrand, a parent, urged the school board to allow Paretta to come back as a volunteer coach. “Those kids love Don Paretta,” Shartrand said. “He’s an excellent coach.” As some students, both girls and boys, walked past Paretta they embraced him and wished him luck. Paretta said that he believed if school Superintendent Oliver Robinson “had taken the time to look into this situation with open eyes, a different outcome would have resulted.” “Instead, I feel the decision to fi re me was made days ago and by press release,” Paretta said. David A. Ehrlich of Albany, Paretta’s lawyer, said after the school board decision that he would discuss options with Paretta, who remains a part-time track coach at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy. The school board also adopted the district’s $147.4 million 2009-10 district budget. The new..............http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....amp;EntityId=Ar00103
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