York Central School
Coach cut after mocking students
A veteran York Central math teacher and modified boys basketball coach has come under fire for allegedly making insensitive and vulgar comments in front of students and players.
Mike Falk’s behavior was the subject of complaints from a parent at the Feb. 13 school board meeting.
The parent claimed that Falk has been using a sexually-explicit phase mocking her son’s last name. She said her son had lost his rights in having to be under Falk’s supervision.
She told the board Falk should not be teaching at any school.
One week earlier, at a basketball game in LeRoy, Falk allegedly mocked the girls in LeRoy suffering from Tourettes’s Syndrome. He reportedly lead a cheer, saying, “One, Two, three, Tourette’s!”
The players did not repeat the cheer. In a Tuesday interview with The County News, York School Superintendent Dan Murray emphasized that the York students were absolutely and in no way involved with such a cheer.
As related to The County News by a reliable source, and contrary to other reports, Falk’s chant did not occur on the LeRoy basketball court, in front of the spectators and LeRoy players, but was in the privacy of the locker room. Falk reportedly qualified his ‘joke,’ telling his players, “I’m just kidding.”
However, at least one parent of a player learned of Falk’s indiscretion and complained to the school administration. Consequently Falk was relieved of his coaching duties. Falk continues to teach eight grade math.
Falk has been the York girls volleyball and JV boys basketball coach for the past five years. This had been Falk’s first year as modified boys basketball coach before he was terminated from the position,
The York volleyball team struggled to a 3-14 record last fall, one year removed from a 6-10 record during the 2010-11 season.
