Parents complain to Brownsville board
BROWNSVILLE – The Brownsville Area School Board heard from parents of cheerleaders Monday who expressed concerns about their daughters’ head cheerleading coach, Lisa Johnson. Several parents complained of hearing reports from their daughters that the girls had been left unattended at times, that the girls were being asked to practice in unsafe conditions and do stunts that they were not prepared to do. They also said they heard reports that Johnson had conducted herself inappropriately. Some parents complained of injuries that their daughters had suffered during practice.
One parent told the board that she thought the girls were being mentally abused, and she felt the girls were afraid of their coach.
“Our children have gone from being happy, vivacious girls to being depressed,” she said, urging board members to come to football games and watch the girls perform. “There are no smiles on their faces.”
Johnson denied allegations of leaving any student unattended, and she told the board she has been there to supervise the girls at all times, even when some were left at practice late. She said that while the girls were practicing without mats, it was at their own request, because they had been tripping on the mats that were available for practice.
Johnson also said that each of the girls had attended stunt camp to learn the stunts that they were practicing.
“Each girl paid $117 to learn how to do it,” said Johnson.
Superintendent Larry Golembiewski said that he was concerned about any safety issues and wanted to be sure that the accusations against Johnson were founded before taking any action.
“If someone has done something morally, physically or safety-wise wrong, it needs to be addressed,” said Golembiewski. ” We’re going into this taking no sides.”
Golembiewski said that the athletic director and the high school principal would meet with the cheerleaders alone so that the girls would be able to talk without feeling intimidated.
“This will be the first step towards getting this resolved,” said Golembiewski. “I think we can resolve everything if we communicate openly. We will go through this with an open mind.”
In other matters, the board discussed items on the agenda for Thursday’s regular meeting, which include payment of bills, including contractors needing to be paid, hiring a basketball coach, extending the athletic director’s contract, setting the maintenance manager’s salary and filling a special education position.