Football Coach Robert Garrett Continues To Be Missing In Action At Crenshaw High

Robert Garrett has nan champion occupation successful America. He goes connected his machine each time from home, checks successful and that’s each he’s required to do to get a afloat paycheck from nan Los Angeles Unified School District.

It’s called “teacher jail” but astatine home.

“Who sewage it amended than me,” he said.

March will people nan eighth consecutive period successful which he’s been getting paid to enactment home. The City Section’s winningest shot coach pinch 300 profession wins and a longtime P.E. coach astatine Crenshaw High was placed connected administrative time off past August connected nan eve of Crenshaw’s shot opener.

Nothing has happened since.

The territory supposedly has 120 days to make a determination but that’s not really a deadline based connected past cases.

“Who knows, who cares,” Garrett said by phone. “It’s a bully deal. It’s nan champion point that’s ever happened to me. I haven’t had a break successful 45 years.”

The LAUSD tin apparently return arsenic agelong arsenic it wants to bring a conclusion to its investigation. Without him, Crenshaw still made it to nan City Section Open Division shot final.

But who knows really galore students this schoolhouse twelvemonth person mislaid retired connected receiving a instruction from Garrett, who’s been caput coach since 1988 and has been an important fig successful nan Crenshaw community.

Nike had a ceremony of Crenshaw High.

(Robert S. Helfman)

Has Crenshaw forgotten astir Garrett’s contributions? Nike, nan footwear company, took complete nan field precocious re-making nan gymnasium, cleaning each nan banners hanging from nan walls, putting up signs and utilizing nan auditorium to make it a footwear store.

There’s a small inconsistency going on, nan LAUSD allowing Nike to show disconnected Crenshaw while 1 of its astir successful coaches and teachers is banned from campus.

If LAUSD intends to support this going connected and on, Garrett is good pinch it.

“It that’s nan plan, let’s rotation pinch it,” he said. “I haven’t heard thing astir anything. That’s OK. I person nary complaints. I return nan bitter pinch nan sweet. I return nan bully pinch nan bad. I return nan ups pinch nan downs. I’m resilient. I was calved to coach. That’s my gift. I was put connected this world to coach. That’s nan logic I went to college.”

LAUSD has truthful galore teachers connected administrative time off astatine immoderate 1 clip (probably hundreds) that there’s nary existent deadline for decisions being made. Former Huntington Park hoops coach Joe Reed was retired for 14 months earlier being cleared but nan schoolhouse didn’t springiness him his hoops coaching position back, only his school position. Until a argumentation alteration successful 2014, teachers would person to show up astatine a territory agency and enactment 8 hours each day.

That’s erstwhile it was known arsenic “teacher jail.” Now they get to enactment home.

One of nan much absorbing situations progressive erstwhile Monroe and Granada Hills hoops coach Don Loperena, who nan territory tried to occurrence but past had to rehire aft a judge ruled successful his favour during an arbitration hearing. He went from coach jailhouse pinch salary to six months without salary until winning his case.

Yes, complaints should beryllium investigated, but thing tells maine successful nan lawsuit of Garrett, whenever his business is finalized, he’s going to get his occupation backmost if he wants it and whether nan territory apologizes aliases not, he’s going to time off pinch his caput held precocious knowing he did his champion each time to make a quality successful nan lives of students, whether they liked him aliases not.

About nan only certainty for this autumn is that Garrett will return to coaching.

“I will beryllium coaching somewhere, somehow,” he said. “I will beryllium coaching connected someone’s sideline — moreover if it’s Pop Warner.”