Arcadia Unified School District's Board of Education took no action to reinstate fired coach James O'Brien as head cross country coach of Arcadia High School.
Fired Arcadia High School cross country coach James O'Brien questions reason for dismissal. The Arcadia Unified School District's Board of Education upholds its decision to not reappoint Mr. O'Brien as head coach for the 2013-2014 year. He will continue to teach at Arcadia High School.
Arcadia Unified School District's Board of Education upholds its decision of having fired cross country coach James O'Brien. There were no details about the reasons of his dismissal.
Arcadia school board members shed light on the reasons for firing Arcadia High School cross country coach James O'Brien. They wrote an open letter to the Arcadia community that will be published Sunday in this paper as a paid campaign advertisement. The controversy continues.
Support grows to reinstate the suddenly fired Arcadia High School boys' cross country coach James O'Brien. He has led the Apaches cross country team to two state and two national titles in the last three years. More than 200 supporters attended the district board of education meeting.
A letter from Arcadia High School Principal Brent Forsee to CIF lists recruiting and practice rule violations allegedly committed by fired Arcadia High School cross country coach James O'Brien. Forsee sent the undated letter to the Southern Section offices of the California Interscholastic Federation sometime after firing James O'Brien on June 17.
A message supporting embattled former Arcadia High School cross country coach James O'Brien, sent by a concerned parent named Michael Yamane, was forwarded to the police by a school board member. Yamane's email urged the district to reconsider its firing of O'Brien, accuses district officials of abusing employees, lying about a CIF-SS investigation into O'Brien's program, and suggested officials might be breaking state law. Yamane is concerned about his constitutional right to free speech, after his email was forwarded to police. Yamane is also a proponent of the "Recall Arcadia" campaign, which seeks to recall three school board members.
In the wake of the firing of Arcadia High School cross country coach James O'Brien, twelve alumni, students and parents, have joined forces in an intensive effort to recall Arcadia Unified School District Board members Cung Nguyen, Kay Kinsler, and Lori Phillipi. The recall petition is headed by Esmond Wei. One issue is a list of O'Brien's alleged CIF violations that Arcadia High School formally sent to CIF officials. According to Wei, Arcadia High School's principal refused to let O'Brien see the letter. Wei said support for O'Brien is growing. See also p. 8 for related story.
Arcadia High School coach James O'Brien, who has led the cross country team to two CIF State and three CIF-Southern Section championships, has been fired. He was told the reason was, "We want to go in a different direction." He will remain a teacher at Arcadia High School.
The ad (open letter to the Arcadia community) that was paid for by the three members of the Arcadia Unified School District Board of Education who are targeted for recall--Cung Nguyen, lori Phillipi, and Kay Kinsler--was printed in the Pasadena Star News August 11, 2013. Fired Arcadia High School cross country coach James O'Brien and his supporters say the letter was a public relations bid to derail the recall effort. See hard copy of the letter in VF "Arcadia High School." See also Arcadia Weekly, p. 1 and 27, August 15, 2013.
Arcadia High School reported CIF-SS rules violation before firing coach James O'Brien. CIF-SS spokesman Thom Simmons declined to elaborate on the notification. O'Brien's supporters have begun a recall campaign targeting Arcadia Unified School District board members Cung Nguyen, Lori Phillipi, and Kay Kinsler.
Arcadia High School boys Sergio Gonzalez (Runner of the Year), Ryan Vargas, Mitchell Pratt and Estevan DeLaRosa, have been named to 2011 All-Area Cross Country boys first team. James O'Brien of Arcadia High School, is named Coach of the Year. Francis Lee of Arcadia High School, is on the second team.
Arcadia High School boys cross country team's coach Jim O'Brien is profiled and is shown in photos with runners Esmond Wei, William Tsai, Ryan Vargas, Allen Leung, Francis Lee, Sergio Gonzalez and Eric Garibay.
A video created by three Arcadia High School graduates went viral and brought people to a school board meeting alst week, in support of fired cross country coach James O'Brien. The creators of the video are Esmond Wei, Ben Hsueh, and Sergio Rodriguez. The video was posted on YouTube.com and had more than 10,000 views in three days. A week later, it had more than 16,000 views.
Arcadia High School boys Eric Garibay, Sergio Gonzalez, Allen Leung and Ryan Vargas, are on the 2010 All-Area Cross Country boys team. Arcadia High School freshman Veronica Yamane and junior Alejandra Quintero are on the 2010 All-Area Cross Country girls team. James O'Brien of Arcadia High School, is named Coach of the Year for the boys. Ammar Moussa and Catrina McAlister, both from Arcadia High School, were named Star News Runners of the Year. All preceding people are photographed. Also chosen (not photographed) were on the second team: Arcadia High School senior boy William Tsai and Arcadia High School girl Glyndie Mancia.
Arcadia High School juniors Catrina McAlister and Ammar Moussa are the Pasadena Star News girls and boys Runners of the Year, and Arcadia High School coach Jim O'Brien is the Boys Coach of the Year.
Arcadia High School's cross country team, coached by Jim O'Brien, has received praise and accolades since qualifying for the CIF State Finals for the first time in school history. Arcadia's top runners are Paul Beckwith and Andrew Pilavjian.