The Park City School District probably gets it wrong again with the treatment of tennis coach Lani Wilcox

I’ve come up with a theory. If the Park City School District Administration is involved in something important, they’ll likely get it wrong.

This week’s unfortunate example is tennis coach Lani Wilcox. Evidentally a 16-year-old female tennis player was demoted from varsity to JV. Then, according to charges against Ms. Wilcox, the player became angry, slapped Ms. Wilcox, Ms. Wilcox put her in a headlock, they fell to the ground, and Ms. Wilcox took away the student’s cellphone.

Ms. Wilcox has been charged with felony child abuse for her actions. Ms. Wilcox was then suspended by the Park City School District.

You may say, “Thank god, PCSD is finally taking child abuse seriously.” And I assume that’s what Jill Gildea, the Park City Superintendent, was thinking when she suspended the coach. The only problem is that those who were THERE tell a different story.

The people in attendance say that the student was demoted to JV so the student could concentrate on an upcoming match.

(Note: The following is based on reports that the Park Rag has received. We only have reports and have no proof. That said, the details are pretty specific.)

Because the student acted out verbally, the player was asked to leave. The player left for an hour and then came back, dropping F-BOMBS and charging at Ms. Wilcox. They say that the student hit Ms. Wilcox, and they fell to the ground. Ms. Wilcox hit her own head on the ground and may have a concussion. After that, the student got up and kicked a male coach in the groin.

Now Ms. Wilcox has been suspended from coaching and has been charged with a felony by the Summit County Attorney. She could face jail time. Her name has been dragged through the mud, and it will be difficult for her to coach again.

Here’s the rub. This happened at the PC MARC. They have it all on video. According to unnamed sources, multiple school administrators, after watching the video, recommended that Ms. Wilcox be reinstated to teach tennis at Park City High School. School Superintendent Jill Gildea would not reinstate Ms. Wilcox. Then the County Attorney, Margaret Olson, filed FELONY charges against MS. Wilcox.

It’s as if they were trying to both act tough because they didn’t act effectually before. Previously, child abuse actions were settled between Summit County and the Park City School District. Neither party disclosed the conditions of the settlement. However, we don’t believe anyone was held accountable for the accusations. Is everyone trying to act TOUGH at the expense of destroying a coach? It appears the answer is yes.

This is how it will probably work out. Lani Wilcox’s reputation has been destroyed by PCSD and Summit County. The video of what actually happened will be used in court. Because school district employees allegedly saw the video and recommended that Ms. Wilcox be reinstated, but wasn’t, there will be a lawsuit against PCSD. An additional lawsuit could be filed against Summit County. The only question is whether the total of the lawsuits will be six figures or seven.

Tax payers wil pay it.

Back to PCSD schools. As I stated above, multiple administrators allegedly saw the video. They thought Ms. Wilcox should be reinstated. That likely means that it wasn’t the coach’s fault.

Allegedly the Supeintendent disagreed. Either she thought this issue was real or she just didn’t want to deal with another issue. Unfortunetely, it seems like the latter.