Lincoln School Committee votes down Cooke
Committee votes 4-3 against former Bishop Feehan baseball coach
LINCOLN – The search for the next Lincoln High varsity baseball head coach has been reopened after the School Committee on Monday night voted, 4-3, to reject the candidate that was recommended to the board.
All signs pointed to Mark Cooke, onetime Bishop Feehan baseball head coach, being that candidate. Cooke is no longer under consideration for the still vacant post. The job will now go to one of the remaining finalists, though the appointing process will represent a significant departure from the method that was previously used to select the original top choice, which was based on the findings of a steering committee comprised of high school personnel and one LHS baseball parent.
Moving forward, the remaining candidates for the Lincoln baseball coaching position will be interviewed by Superintendent Georgia Fortunato. They will then be screened by the School Committee during the executive session portion of the Oct. 16 meeting. The hope is that a final vote will be taken that night during open session.
Voting not to accept Cooke as the next LHS head coach on Monday were Chairwoman Kristine Donabedian, Vice Chairman Joseph Goho, and members John Picozzi and Staci Rapko-Bruckner.
Before the vote was cast, Picozzi questioned the process regarding how this particular candidate was selected with Goho adding that the School Committee is not a rubber stamp.
When Fortunato was asked if she had checked the candidate’s references after his name was given to her by the steering committee, she said no.
“Considering the mess we’re in, it’s important we get the right person in place,” Goho said.
Selecting the best possible candidate from the remaining list of applicants has taken on even greater significance in wake of previous Lincoln baseball head coach Andy Hallam being arrested last month on charges of embezzling $8,440 from the program.
Former Lincoln volunteer assistant coach sets the record straight
Matt Netto, one of two LHS volunteer coaches who served on Hallam’s staff, had already made up his mind. With a one-year-old at home, the 2017 season was going to be his final one in the Lions’ dugout.
Going out under more favorable circumstances was not an option after Netto received a phone call on his way to Bishop Hendricken for Lincoln’s final regular-season contest on Saturday, May 27. The message was that Netto and fellow volunteer assistant Dale O’Dell would be suspended for the rest of the season and was delivered by LHS Principal Kevin McNamara.
For Netto, a 2000 Lincoln graduate and a member of the baseball program’s Division II title team that same year, the news that he would be dismissed from the team was tough to digest. He joined the Lions in 2014 as a volunteer whose primary objective was to throw batting practice. As a proud alum, he had nothing but the best intentions for the current players.
“It really is heartbreaking. This program helped me in innumerable ways. Some of the kids I won the championship with, they’re some of my best friends today,” Netto said. “I wanted these kids to have that same experience. What I’m afraid of is that they’re going to remember investigations, drama, and arguments.”
Netto was afforded the opportunity to rejoin the Lincoln coaching staff prior to the Division I playoffs, but he declined. In a letter written by Netto that was obtained by The Times/Call, he stated, “I do not want to complicate their experience any more than it already is.”
In the same letter, which was dated May 30, Netto wrote that he provided a written statement in McNamara’s office where he denied receiving money while serving as a volunteer coach.
“The purpose of this letter is to clarify the facts and clear my name of any potential violations,” Netto wrote. “I take great pride in working to teach life lessons to our youth through the great game of baseball. I work hard to achieve this mission by volunteering for the LHS baseball team, as well as Lincoln Little League.”
Netto said he was never contacted by the Rhode Island State Police during its investigation of the Lincoln baseball program.