No new ground covered in meeting on ex-coach Russo

By BRANDON WRIGHT
Published October 26, 2006

TAMPA - Pat Russo stayed away. Hillsborough High's baseball team and players' parents were inquisitive. And district administrators hedged their responses.

Bottom line: Russo won't be getting his old job back any time soon.

A meeting to "clear the air" between concerned parents and school officials yielded little Wednesday at the Hillsborough High auditorium.

"(Principal) Dr. (William) Orr hired Mr. Russo as a consultant and the decision was made to terminate the contract," deputy superintendent Ken Otero said. "And we will not specifically discuss the allegations due to the ongoing legal process."

Russo, who was not a teacher at the school, was fired last month amid allegations of recruiting violations. The accusations were given to the district, which forwarded them to the Florida High School Athletics Association. Orr then met with FHSAA associate commissioner Sonny Hester, who laid out the allegations and told the school to investigate or the FHSAA would.

"If we had not (fired Russo), there could have been serious implications brought down upon Hillsborough," Orr said. "Not just the baseball team, but the entire program."

Russo, who was advised not to attend the meeting, said the matter is far from over.

"The next step is to get the parents together and go to see (Hester)," Russo said. "If that's what it takes, that's what we'll do."

[Last modified October 26, 2006, 06:39:08]