Paterson Eastside recruiting scandal brought changes during past year
PATERSON — As a result of the basketball recruiting scandal that rocked Eastside High School in 2017, more than 100 Paterson sports coaches this year were required to pass a test about state athletic association rules.
Head coaches and assistants in all sports had to take the exam, which also included questions about the city school district’s policies and procedures, officials said.
Those tests were part of a 50-step corrective action plan implemented by Paterson Public Schools in the aftermath of the scandal that resulted in Eastside’s basketball teams being banned from this year’s state tournament as well as the dismissals and suspensions of several athletic department staff members.
Eileen Shafer, the schools superintendent, submitted a status report on the 50-step plan to the New Jersey Board of Education during a recent meeting in Trenton.
That meeting took place almost one year to the day after the Paterson Board of Education approved disciplinary action against five employees — including the termination of Eastside’s athletics supervisor, Gregory Cooper; the removal of the head coach of the boys’ team, Juan Griles; and the suspension of the head coach of the girls’ squad, Ray Lyde Jr.
“I think Paterson is ready to move on,” said Assemblyman Benjie Wimberly, a former football and baseball coach at Eastside, who now coaches Hackensack High School's football team. “I think Eileen Shafer has done a tremendous job being proactive on this.”
After a series of winning seasons and strong showings in the state tournaments, Eastside’s girls and boys teams finished with losing records this year. The girls won just three out of 19 games, which some officials said resulted from players' transferring to other schools.
The New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, or NJSIAA, recruiting sanctions against Eastside stemmed from a series of stories by the Star-Ledger exposing the fact that six players from Puerto Rico and Nigeria were living at Griles’ Paterson condominium. Griles had taken the role of legal guardian for most of those players, the school’s subsequent investigation found.
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Under the district’s 50-step plan, coaches and other employees who allow transfer students to live with them or become their legal guardians must report that information in writing to their school principal and the superintendent.
The district’s status update on the plan says none of its employees reported taking transfer students into their homes or becoming their guardians.
The district’s action plan also created a policy requiring all students to register for school at the district’s central headquarters. The district’s investigation last year had found that some players involved in the scandal had registered at Eastside, rather than through traditional channels.
“Our district prepared and addressed each step of the Corrective Action Plan, and as a result of our follow-up on each area, we have received several positive reports from the NJSIAA monitor regarding our current 2017-18 athletic programs,” said Terry Corallo, the district spokeswoman.
In January, the NJSIAA representative assigned to monitor Paterson’s athletics program sent the district a letter saying he had checked the basketball roster against eligibility lists and transfer records.
“All are in compliance,” wrote the monitor, Gary Farishian.
Paterson school board President Oshin Castillo said the district has emphasized “accountability” among its staff members.
“We want to make sure everything is done properly,” Castillo said. "Especially because it was our kids who had to suffer the most because of this.”
Another school board member, Emmanuel Capers, said he still believes the actions taken as a result of the news stories were excessive.
“It was all reactive,” Capers said.
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Capers, who said he coaches football at Irvington High School in Essex County, asserted that Paterson is now being held to a higher standard than are other districts.
“Coaches in other towns don’t have to take a test on NJSIAA rules,” he said. “That’s not their job. That the athletic director’s job.”
Under his suspension, Lyde is eligible to resume coaching the Eastside girls’ team next season. District officials have not yet announced whether he will return to that role.
Donnie Evans was Paterson’s schools superintendent when the district imposed disciplinary action against Eastside staff members in April 2017. He retired at the end of June.
After his departure, the district reduced some of the penalties. For example, Lyde and a student registration secretary were able to get pay that they originally been denied during Evans’ tenure.
Also, Evans had said the district would seek tenure charges against Griles in an effort to oust him from his teaching position at Eastside. But the school district later decided not to pursue those charges.
Finally, Evans had said that one of Eastside’s principals, Karen Johnson, would not be disciplined because she was going to retire. The school board president at the time, Chris Irving, had said Johnson was being forced to retire as punishment.
But Johnson, who is Shafer’s domestic partner, remains on the district’s payroll with a total salary of $170,000, according to public records. She filed for medical leave in spring 2017 and has been on paid leave since then.
Officials said Johnson has been using sick days she accumulated during her career with Paterson Public Schools, which started in 1979.