Former Swampscott track coach blasts administrators

SWAMPSCOTT – The Swampscott track and cross country coach who resigned twice over the past six months criticized school administrators and the teachers union for not responding to his concerns over the unequal distribution of staff and financial resources among coaches.”I had 130 kids and one assistant coach, and you need proper help if you have more kids,” former Coach Dominic Finelli said on Friday. “I just wanted to be heard and it sounds like (it) landed on deaf ears.”Superintendent Lynne Celli said that she would not offer any comment beyond a statement prepared March 18.”Myself and the administration made a decision once Mr. Finelli officially resigned that we were moving forward and not responding,” the statement read. “To do so would continue to hurt a program that is already trying to heal with the coaches that are here. This healing we feel started when the spring sports meeting took place.” Celli refused to give permission for either High School Principal Layne Millington or High School Athletic Director Alison Argentieri to speak with the media about the subject.Finelli said he first resigned in late November because school officials did not address a letter he sent them outlining concerns over unequal coaching resources among the different athletic teams. While the cross country team had grown from 7 to 130 runners between his start in 1992 and the 2010 Fall season, Finelli had only one assistant coach. Finelli said that this posed safety concerns, especially considering that runners ranged over miles-long courses. Furthermore, both he and the assistant coach were paid half of what coaches in other sports were being paid, while his athletes were each paying a $250 user fee.Finelli said he sent the letter in October to Principal Millington, Athletic Director Argentieri, Superintendent Celli and the President of the Teachers Union and the Union Negotiator to try and address these issues in contract negotiations. When he received a check for $2,600, the same amount as he received the previous year, he said it was “time to move on.””(Principal Millington) has said ‘pay shouldn’t go up just because you have more kids,’ which is fair, but you should get more help then,” Finelli said.Parents of his students urged him to reapply for his former position, however. He was the only applicant and a seven-member committee, including Argentieri, unanimously voted to support his application this March.But when he met with Principal Millington to discuss rejoining the school, he had still received no response from the administration or the teachers union about his concerns over coaching resources, Finelli said. Finelli said he was also asked to sign a document that implied that he had “caused some type of harm by resigning.””All I did was resign,” Finelli said. “I wasn’t going to sign anything. All I have done are positive things.”So Finelli submitted his resignation March 15, provoking renewed frustration among his supporters.”I’m completely outraged that this happened? I feel he’s been completely unfairly treated,” said Eric Collins, whose two children were coached by Finelli. “There’s been concern all around. I have friends that never had children run who can’t believe what’s going on because I’ve talked about how wonderful Dom is and how he’s treated my children.”Kerin Walsh, president of the Swampscott Track Boosters, said that the organization is planning to meet this week to discuss the track and field and cross country programs’ future.”We have had a successful track and field and cross country program over the past years and want to discuss how to maintain that in the future,” said Walsh. “We have some issues that we would like to see resolved, one of the major issues is the proper coach and athlete ratio and how to provide adequate compensation to the coaches.”Meanwhile, Finelli said he wants to move on. He said he “has been trying to stay above the fray” and has not been asked to attend the booster’s meeting. He said th