Parents and students at Menlo-Atherton High School want to know what happened to the school’s varsity basketball coach, Mike Molieri.
Team members and parents spoke at the Sequoia Union High School District’s board on Aug. 21 about the person they affectionally call Coach Mo.
“Last week, when we went into school, they told us that Coach Mo would be on a leave of absence,” said parent Jermaine Sutton. “They couldn’t tell us what was going on. So we sent several emails to our leadership time and they finally emailed us back and they said we can’t tell you what’s going on. We don’t know how long this is going to take. That’s why we are here. The basketball team is here.”
“As you guys know, the African American community is very small at Menlo-Atherton. He provides a safe place for those boys that is being taken away for those boys,” Sutton said.
Team member Jacob Sutton spoke next and told the board the mysterious leave of absence is hurting the team.
“Coach has been something I never thought I’d get in high school, a teacher, a mentor, somebody I can go to and talk about anything,” Jacob Sutton said. “We as a team are not able to find out what’s going on, and I think it’s hurting all of us.”
State law prevents school officials from talking about personnel matters, so the parents and students will likely remain in the dark. The team’s season starts in December.