By:Scott Brinton
Art Canestro, the former Mepham High School junior-varsity football coach, had a hard time last Friday explaining to his 4-year-old daughter why he couldn't coach baseball this spring.
Canestro, 36, of Holbrook, loves baseball, and his daughter is fully aware of his passion for the game. She saw how distraught he was after learning from Central District Superintendent Dr. Thomas Caramore on Jan. 23 that he wouldn't be allowed to coach baseball at Mepham, his alma mater, where he once played.
"My 4-year-old daughter came up to me and said, 'Daddy, how come you can't play baseball with your team anymore?'" Canestro recounted, adding that he wasn't sure what to say. "For your daughter to tell you that, it's heart-breaking."
Canestro was one of five coaches supervising the Mepham High School football camp at which three JV players were sexually assaulted by three varsity players last August. At its November meeting, the Central District Board of Education voted against renewing in 2004 the football coaching contracts for Canestro, head varsity coach Kevin McElroy and coaches Erwin Wolosky, Steve Vernet and Brian Scott. Only Canestro and McElroy are on staff at Mepham, and so far they have retained their tenured teaching positions.
The two, though, were to coach sports this spring -- Canestro, baseball, and McElroy, golf. Last Wednesday, the Board of Education convened an executive session, or closed-door meeting, to discuss personnel matters. According to knowledgeable sources, the matter of whether Canestro and McElroy would be allowed to coach in the spring was discussed at the meeting.
But Charles Reinhardt, Board of Education president, said the board didn't vote on the matter. "The board took no action," he said.
Rather, the decision against renewing the two coaches' contracts was left solely to the superintendent, according to Reinhardt. "It's the conclusion of the superintendent, one way or another," he said. "He has to recommend [their appointment as coaches], and if he does not recommend, then basically the board cannot appoint. My understanding was that he was not going to recommend, and under education law, that becomes final."
Reinhardt, an attorney from North Bellmore, offered no reason why the coaches' spring contracts were not renewed. And he would not say what the board thought about the superintendent's decision. "I'm not going to tell you whether [the decision] was mutual," he said.
Louis Kruh, of Merrick, who is also an attorney, said, "I support the superintendent," adding, "There may be an uneasy feeling among people if [the two coaches] are reappointed."
Canestro said the superintendent gave him no reason why his baseball contract would not be renewed. "Basically, all he said was that it was for the good of the community. That's it," the former coach said.
The Board of Education said in November that the football coaches' contracts were not renewed so that the football program may continue in 2004 without possible disruption.
Canestro, a phys. ed. teacher who was to be the assistant baseball coach, said he got into education because he loves children and teaching. He especially wanted to coach baseball. The 1985 Mepham graduate received a full baseball scholarship to the New York Institute of Technology, where he majored in communications and became a baseball standout.
From age 20 to 25, he played minor-league baseball in the Yankees organization. In 1995 he was called up as a replacement player during the baseball strike. He played in the very first game, a spring training exhibition, at the newly minted Coors Field in Denver, as well as at the Houston Astrodome.
"Baseball is my great love," said Canestro. "I played it at a professional level. I know most of the ins and outs. I love coaching it. I love teaching it.
"I feel I have a great rapport with the kids," he continued. "I love the kids I work with. This year, they're very talented. They're a great bunch."
Canestro has taught at Mepham for six years. Colleagues at the school describe him as a professional, trustworthy and well-liked teacher. Said one teacher, who declined to be identified, "He's absolutely a good person and a good teacher, and he's good at what he does. There's nobody that I know that would state any differently. He's good for the kids, and he really cares about what goes on inside the building."
Fred Cohen, the Central District's former assistant superintendent for instruction, who retired in June 2002, said when called by the Herald, "I remember Art as a fine young teacher." Cohen supervised Canestro closely during his first three years at Mepham, when teachers are formally observed often before they receive tenure. "I have no direct knowledge of him as coach," Cohen said. "He was a competent and caring teacher, from my observation of him."
John Van Name, of North Merrick, recently formed Concerned Citizens for Excellence in Education to get the five football coaches reinstated to their positions. He believes they were unjustly relieved of their duties.
Van Name was disconcerted when he learned that Canestro and McElroy would not coach in the spring. "They're not going to let them coach anything, for any sport, for any season?" he wondered. "How long can this go on? Do you keep punishing people forever? Is there anything they can do to redeem themselves?"
He continued, "It seems like we give everyone else another chance. Here, it's guilt by association."
Canestro swears that he knew nothing about the sex-abuse attacks while at the camp. "You didn't know what was going on. You didn't hear what was going on. Yet you're responsible for a criminal act," he said.
Newsday's columnists have been particularly harsh on the coaches. Canestro said, "It's really hard to read the papers and sit back and read false allegations, severely skewed opinions and lies. It's really tough to read that and realize that people are formulating opinions off that information."
As a husband and the father of two young children, Canestro said it's particularly difficult when it's implied that he somehow let the attacks happen. "When people make insinuations that you did something to harm a kid, it hurts," he said.
Canestro added, "School hasn't been a fun place to come to work like it was. The best support I've had has been from the kids. The Mepham faculty and the students are our biggest supporters."
Neither McElroy nor Caramore could be reached for comment. According to sources, Canestro's and McElroy's spring coaching contracts will be re-evaluated in 2005, at which time they might be rehired.
