Following a back and forth of legal notices this week, an administrator at Lincoln High School informed parents that there was no proof that Heather Seely-Roberts, the boys basketball coach, had used racist or homophobic language during a district probe.
Seely-Roberts has refuted the accusation, which first arose earlier this week in a tort lawsuit brought on behalf of four Lincoln High School students.
Seely-Roberts was accused of using racist remarks, homophobic epithets, and retaliation against players who played club basketball during the offseason for another coach and against players whose parents had voiced dissatisfaction with her coaching in the tort claim, which is a declaration of intent to sue.
Seely-Roberts responded by filing a tort suit of her own, claiming that the initial tort claim was an attempt by parents to disparage her after their kids were left off of Lincoln’s varsity roster. Additionally, Seely-Roberts asserted that Portland Public Schools failed to take adequate precautions to shield her from the parents’ harassment.
Matt Wiles, the athletic director at Lincoln, updated basketball players’ parents by email on Friday night.
According to Wiles’ email, “This is a challenging situation with complex and varied perspectives, as I am sure you can imagine.” However, we all feel that it is crucial to support our student athletes, and we all want to give our students a respectful environment across LHS that fosters their development as both athletes and students.
According to Wiles, a Portland Public Schools inquiry into Seely-Roberts found no proof of racial or gay discrimination.
“As parents of team members, we want you to know that PPS’s investigation did not find evidence of homophobic or racially discriminatory behavior within the LHS basketball program.” Wiles said, “We take reported concerns seriously.”
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The district did discover evidence of some retribution, but no disciplinary action was taken, according to a previous PPS examination into retaliation claims, which was mainly inconclusive.
Seely-Roberts teaches physical education at the Southwest Portland school in addition to coaching boys’ basketball at Lincoln.
In October, she also filed a formal complaint with the school system, requesting that one of the families engaged in the tort claim against her be looked into.
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–Nik Streng investigates Oregon high school athletics. You may contact him at @NikStreng or [email protected].
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