SPOKANE, Wash – The Mead School District has terminated the coaching contract for Mead High School football coach Keith Stamps, as more allegations and a new lawsuit allege inappropriate activities and his lack of response.
Superintendent Travis Hanson said in a termination letter that Stamps’ conduct was “unprofessional, inappropriate, flagrant [and] egregious” and that he was dishonest about what was being alleged by his players.
The district issued that letter to Stamps Wednesday, citing a new lawsuit filed last month.
The lawsuit follows one that was filed earlier this year, alleging football players hazed and bullied teammates at a team camp and that the coach failed to report it.
As the new lawsuit was filed, the district reopened its previous investigation and made the decision to terminate Stamps’ coaching contract.
The district also issued a notice of probable cause to terminate his teaching contract.
Stamps teaches health and fitness at MHS. He has been on leave from teaching since November 21st when the newest allegations came to light. By then, the football season was already over.
“We are deeply concerned about the issues raised and want to emphasize that the safety, well-being, and trust of our students, families, and community are our top priorities,” Superintendent Hanson said in a news release.
In the letter sent to Stamps, the district accused Stamps of being “neither honest nor forthcoming about [his] knowledge of the reports.”
The district findings accuse Stamps of failing to respond to allegations of student misconduct, beginning with the football camp incident in June 2023.
The district says Stamps was aware of the allegations in July of that year, including a video that purported to show players assaulting a teammate with a massage gun.
In the letter, the district said Stamps first learned of the incident in July. Then, the district says Stamps received an email in August, which included “allegations of students using a massage gun on another student’s private area, reportedly as ‘payback’ for all the times this student had ‘touched the privates’ of other students.” The email also included allegations of a coach saying something to players to the effect that back in his day they “used a stick,” and that nowadays players are “soft.”
The district said Stamps deleted the email and failed to disclose it to administrators. The district only learned of the email when it surfaced as part of one of the lawsuits.
“More specifically, this November, while reviewing responsive records, the District became aware of the deleted email containing additional information and previously unreported allegations of student and staff misconduct within the football program,” the letter said.
The district also says Stamps signed a sworn statement relating to the lawsuit saying that nothing about what happened in June was communicated to coaches between July and December 2023.
“That statement was not true,” the letter says. “On August 16, 2023, you received and read an email from a concerned parent; in fact, you called the parent and the two of you spoke about the message. That email, while related to camp incidents you’d spoken with boys about in July, contained new allegations and new information related to things that had taken place at camp.”
The district concludes by telling Stamps, “The impact of your dishonesty has already negatively affected many… but these falsehoods will have far-reaching implications.”
“Based on my findings, I conclude that your above-referenced conduct, individually and/or in the aggregate, is unprofessional, inappropriate, flagrant, egregious, based on substantial poor judgment, and a flagrant disregard of generally recognized professional standards,” wrote Superintendent Travis Hanson.
Hanson says the district’s findings give them probable cause to not renew Stamps’ employment with the district. Stamps has the right to appeal the decision.
Mead’s football team just finished the regular season, which ended with a playoff loss on November 16.
Stamps took the head coaching job at Mead in 2021 after 17 seasons in Deer Park.
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