Olathe school board fires baseball coach after he was accused of using racial slur
Update: Fired Olathe coach gives his version of racial slur incident. Accuser says it’s untrue. Read the story here.
The Olathe school board on Monday unanimously agreed to fire Olathe North High School’s head baseball coach Pete Flood after he allegedly used a racial slur toward a Black player.
The board agreed to immediately terminate Flood’s teaching contract and employment from all positions he holds in the district.
Tony Banks previously told The Star that last Thursday, his son, a senior and the only Black player on the team, was playing rap music through speakers during batting practice before a game against Olathe South.
Banks said Flood walked up to his son and told him, “We don’t play that N----- music over here. We only play country and rock music.”
Banks shared the story on social media, which led to thousands of people calling for the district to fire Flood and prohibit him from coaching again.
On Friday, the district placed Flood on administrative leave after an investigation into the incident. And Superintendent John Allison recommended that the school board terminate his employment.
“This is not a matter of politics or business, but a matter of what is right,” Henry Lyons, president of the Olathe unit of the NAACP, said in an email to the school board. “You must back the Olathe Public Schools Administration and show the kids, parents, people in the metro area and the world that bigotry will not be tolerated.”
The school board met at 8:15 a.m. Monday, and convened in executive session, before agreeing to terminate the contract.
“I am deeply ashamed and outraged to learn about this. It is inexcusable on every level,” said board president Joe Beveridge. “Our next steps as a school district are going to be some of the most important steps that we will ever take. This board takes this seriously. And we are committed to getting it right.”
Flood did not immediately return a request for comment.
Beveridge apologized to the Banks family, staff and students. He thanked them for “coming forward to bring this coach’s abhorrent behavior to our attention, so we can act swiftly to prevent this from happening ever again.”
“Anyone who demonstrates racism and bigotry like this has no place in our district.”
He directed staff to develop a comprehensive plan, to be presented to the board in August, to evaluate the district’s diversity and equity policies. He asked for an evaluation of diversity training for teachers, staff, coaches and students.
“We would be naive to assume this was just one isolated incident,” Beveridge said.
Flood had been employed by the school district since 1996, spokeswoman Maggie Kolb said Friday. In 2003, he began serving as an assistant coach with the Olathe North football team. He took over as head coach in 2006.
In 2011, The Star reported that Flood announced he was resigning as head coach of the football team to spend more time with his family, but that he would continue to teach at the school. He was most recently listed as a physical education teacher on the school’s website.
Kolb said that Flood started as Olathe North’s head baseball coach this school year.
