Several members of the community and Nogales High School alums protested plans to sideline varsity basketball coach Ricardo "Bambi" De La Riva.

Ricardo "Bambi" De La Riva

The issue came to a head during a meeting on Monday of the Nogales Unified School District No.1 board during the call-to-the-public period.

"You never let a winning coach depart," said Octavio Castaneda, NHS volunteer track coach.

De La Riva's team finished 14-4 in last year's regular season, second to Cienega in the Kino 4A Region. They also competed in state competition, where the Apaches were edged 68-67, in the first round.

In his five years as varsity coach, De La Riva, who graduated from NHS in 1971, has an 86-62 record.

De La Riva's players, some of whom were sitting in the audience during the meeting, had no complaints about him, said Juan Suarez Sr.

He is the father of basketball players Juan Suarez Jr. and Rodolfo Suarez.

"As a parent, you want to see the coach lead them in the right direction," Suarez Sr. said. "If we're going to get rid of a winning coach, it should be reconsidered. If it's not broke, don't fix it."

Guillermo Valencia Jr., a 1974 NHS grad and ex-basketball player, said, "Bambi has rapport with the kids. We're talking about a guy who goes out there and develops a winning program and now we want to get him out? Why?" asked Valencia who is now a volunteer assistant coach. "To me, it sounds vindictive. Don't let NHS down, don't let the kids down, don't let the community down. Give Bambi back his job."

Amelia Gonzalez, who spoke to the board about the NHS pom team, saved a few words for De La Riva. "He never yells at the players," said Gonzalez who retired from the district as an administrative assistant after more than three decades with NUSD. "He's a great coach. If you want to get rid of him, it's discrimination." She repeated the word in Spanish - "discriminacion."

Board President Hector Arana thanked the speakers and told the audience the board would meet in an executive session on Monday, April 21, to discuss the basketball coach addendum. The meeting will not be open to the public.

Can't discuss it

De La Riva refused to comment. "I can't discuss it because I don't know what's going down. They said they needed to move on," he said without elaboration.

NHS Athletics Director Tim Colgate also refused to comment on the issue. "I can't say anything because my immediate supervisor said 'don't say anything.' I'm not allowed to comment, (with this) being a personnel issue," Colgate said. "Mark Valenzuela is reminding me that there are FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) laws that (dis) allow me from commenting on personnel issues."

According to Jim Bradshaw, spokesman for the U.S. Department of Education, FERPA laws "only apply to student records." It would apply to teacher or administrator records if personally identifiable information about a student is contained within the record.

"It's just that it's a gray area," Valenzuela said, dismissing any role FERPA would play. "We're concerned about the civil part of it. We'd like to check with an attorney first.

"We (also) don't want to discuss it without (De La Riva's) permission," he added.

Addendum

Coaches, some of whom are teachers, are hired and paid under an addendum, which is separate from their employment contract, according to Colgate. "The addendum is a year-to-year agreement," Colgate said. "Whatever contract you're employed by the school district; an addendum is a separate item."

Regarding the possible termination of De La Riva's addendum and with the pending executive session set for Monday, Colgate said, "I cannot confirm or deny because that has not been resolved yet."

Valenzuela said that while no addendums have been issued, because they are signed at the beginning of a school year, "He's just not being renewed."

But "as any employee, (De La Riva) has the right to request a public hearing," said NUSD Superintendent Guillermo Zamudio. As of press time, the meeting was still intended to be held privately among the board, Zamudio, De La Riva, Valenzuela and Colgate.

Supervisor's job

De La Riva works as a maintenance supervisor for NUSD. He is considered an administrator under the addendum policy (See sidebar on Page 1B), said Zamudio. His contract was among those renewed for the 2008-2009 school year, he said.

Zamudio said that traditionally, the schools' administrators determine who they want as coaches. He said that in De La Riva's case, Valenzuela and Colgate indicated they did not want the head coach back next season.

De La Riva then ultimately appealed the decision to Zamudio.

Executive session

The school board "can overturn the decision of a principal and athletic director if that coach appeals his firing, and the decision to do so is found to have been arbitrary and capricious," Arana said.

District policy

Arana said he does not believe in meddling in the affairs of management under normal circumstances. "But if ... an employee's dismissal is unjust or egregious, then the answer should be 'yes, we should hear his appeal,'" Arana said.

He stressed, however, that he has not reviewed any information about why Valenzuela and Colgate have indicated De La Riva should not be offered an addendum for next year.

"If it's a reasonable cause (then the decision) should be upheld," Arana said.

Zamudio said he has spent about 15 hours on the case "hearing both sides of the coin (De La Riva's and NHS officials)."

He said he finds merits to both arguments, and that he could have rendered a decision to uphold or overturn Valenzuela's and Colgate's decision. But, Zamudio's contract ends on June 30, and he will not be here for next season. As such, he deferred to the board which will remain in place to be held accountable for its decision.

"I have always and will continue to do what I feel is right. Sometimes, much to the chagrin of some people. But that's neither here nor there," Zamudio said. (Editor's note: Denise Holley and Manuel Coppola contributed to this story.)