Schools

Community Group Forms in Effort to Reinstate Bob Aronson as Coach of Medfield Boys' Lacrosse

Members of the Medfield lacrosse community have formed the "Organization to Reinstate Coach Aronson" (ORCA) in an effort to bring back Bob Aronson after his contract to coach the Medfield High School boys' lacrosse team was not renewed.

Medfield residents are unhappy with the administration’s for the 2012 season.

Former and current Medfield lacrosse players spoke at length in support of Aronson at the Feb. 13 school committee meeting, asking Superintendent of Schools, Bob Maguire, to reconsider the administration’s decision not to bring Aronson back for a 13th season and reinstate the only head coach in the program's history.

Maguire says while the decision not to renew Aronson’s contract was “difficult,” the process was thorough and he supports MHS principal Robert Parga’s decision.

Find out what's happening in Medfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“In this particular insistence, I did take the further steps of reviewing [Parga’s] decision and this issue,” Maguire said at the Jan. 30 school committee meeting. “I have complete faith in those people. I believe the athletic director [Jon Kirby] and I believe the principal of the school [Parga] have been thorough and I think that they’ve done a very good job in terms of making a difficult decision on this matter.”

Maguire has been clear with residents and players questioning the administration’s decision that he will not reconsider renewing Aronson’s contract without "new information" regarding the situation. To this point, any information believed to be related to the administration's decision has not been confirmed or denied by Maguire, who says it is Massachusetts state law not to discuss personnel matters publicly.

Find out what's happening in Medfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“If you have something you want to share with me or if there is some new information that you want me to hear that’s critical of the decision, I’m more than an open person on this to talk with people and this committee about any issue that arises,” Maguire said at the Jan. 30 school committee meeting.

Following the Feb. 13 school committee meeting, residents formed a community group entitled “Organization to Reinstate Coach Aronson” (ORCA) after Maguire said he would not reconsider the decision made regarding Medfield’s longtime lacrosse coach and the school committee deemed the decision irreversible.

Robert Treiber II, a Medfield resident and parent of a Medfield boys’ lacrosse and hockey player, has been spearheading the lacrosse community’s efforts to reinstate Aronson and is the chairman of ORCA. At the Jan. 30 school committee meeting, Treiber stood alone in front of the school committee and presented members with a 41-page packet on what he believed to be the facts relevant to the decision not to bring back Aronson. He asked committee members to review the packet of information and let him know what they thought of the situation.

Two weeks later, Treiber came back to the school committee with a room full of former and current lacrosse players, parents and fellow residents in support of Aronson.

Collectively, they spoke for about an hour, sharing personal stories and experiences they’ve had with Aronson and each asking the administration to reconsider its decision.

Maguire told the residents in attendance the school committee has no authority regarding the decision made on Aronson. That authority falls on Parga and Maguire. Despite having no authority on the matter, school committee chairman Susan Ruzzo voiced support of the high school administration’s decision and said there would be nothing further to discuss.

“We as a committee support both Mr. Parga and Mr. Maguire with the decision,” Ruzzo said. “We understand people are not going to agree with it and everybody is entitled to an opinion, but I think it is important to understand a decision has been made, new coaches have been hired, the kids have already met with the coaches and they want to move on. … I think maybe there are some ideas out there that the decision is reversible and I can tell you that it’s not.”

Unsatisfied with the outcome of the Feb. 13 school committee meeting, residents formed ORCA and appointed Treiber as chairman of the group. ORCA describes itself as “a grassroots committee with a singular goal: Get Bob Aronson reinstated as coach of Medfield High School’s boys’ varsity lacrosse team,” according to its Facebook page.

“Our committee strongly believes that the best thing we can do to benefit … and for the welfare … of those children and our community in general is to reinstate coach Aronson as the Medfield boys’ lacrosse head coach,” Treiber said.

The group plans to protest Aronson’s dismissal Monday, March 5 during the Medfield School Committee meeting at 7:30 p.m. at Medfield High School after Treiber and Maguire “failed to reach a compromise” during a meeting about reinstating Aronson on Thursday, March 1, according to a press release issued by ORCA.

Aronson, who has been the varsity lacrosse team’s head coach since its inception in 2000, was told by Parga in early December his application for the upcoming 2012 season would not be considered. Each season, Aronson, who is not a full-time faculty member at the school, must reapply for the position. Aronson said he was told the school’s program would be “going in a new direction,” according to a press release issued by ORCA.

Related Content:

  • For more on the school administration's decision not to renew Aronson's contract,  
  • For more information on ORCA, click here.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here