I agree Coach Stein should be reinstated. Clearly some homophobic parent got him fired. He is a good guy and so what if he's gay. He was never inappropriate with the kids as far as I know.

He needs to sue their homophobic butts off, stat!

The bullying should also be addressed. Shame on you Charter Oaks High School!

Even parents can bully, too!

I personally know Mitch and his daughter Devynn. Mitch is one of the kindest and most generous people you will ever meet. This is so sad and just morally wrong.

As a former player and student of charter oak. I am lost for words.. This is so horrible!! Not only for coach Mitch but for the aquatics program in general. In the 10 years I have been around that pool deck there has not once been any inappropriate activity. If you wish to not have your child coached by a gay man or woman that is your dessicion! Pull your child from the program and go else where. Do not take it out on the individual or the program it self!
Charger rule in the pool!!!

i am a student at charter oak and think this is ridiculous he never should any signs of attraction towards his students i dont know about the other students but im stepping up to the plate and going to help this girl of his i know exactly what she is going through and no one deserves to be treated as bad as she has been he is a human being and deserves the rights of one

Its a shame when people use "decency" as a guise to commit acts of ugliness such as this unjustified witch hunt of a decent man. I was Mitch's friend, neighbor, and in the same scout troop growing up and know him to be caring, dedicated, and full of integrity. He has a robust sense of humor; and like many of us who like to laugh its not uncommon to have a picture or two out there of us goofing for a camera when we were with our friends or having a couple beers. Those type of things can't be taken seriously as having any bearing on whether someone is qualified or worthy of their vocational pursuits; especially when nothing illegal is being done in the pictures.

A clear story of sabotage. This was a witch-hunt that started with disgrunted parents upset about the goings-on with their kids on the swim-team that ended with Mr. Stein's sexuality being used against him. They have no viable reason for doing what they did. This man clearly targeted and the school would be very wise to reinstate him, because they have no shot whatsoever at winning a lawsuit. They should save face now, especially since this story has gone viral.

The worst aspect of the story is the homophobic abuse his daughter is receiving. But that isn't a surprise. The school promoted it by firing Mr. Stein. Some of the kids are reacting accordingly. Luckily most of the community and students seem to be behind him, so hopefully they can do their part to protect his daughter, and continue to take a stand and make noise. Do not allow this school get away with this egregious behavior.

My 13 year old daughter plays Water Polo with Mitch's daughter. When my daughter heard about what happened to Mitch, she said, "I don't understand. This is his business and no one else's. What does his personal life have to do with coaching?" Hmmmm....from the mouths of babes.

Mitch is one great guy! Lots of positive feedback to all the players on our team. He jumps in to volunteer for anything needed. You can tell he puts the kids first. He has a very positive, outgoing personality and is a great role model for kids. This is just a shame that the narrowmindedness of some adults can effect the lives of a family like this. I'm surprised they didn't ask for Mitch to be burned at the stake!

This is an utterly disgusting display of intolerance and injustice from an institution which should be setting examples within the community of tolerance and fariness to all. What era are we living in anyway? The South in the 1950's and all of it's rampant discrimination? Come on people of Charter Oak, wake up and demand that this man be reinstated and that the Superintendent be fired! Mike Hendricks (Superintendent) and Kathleen Wiard (Principal) should be ashamed of themselves; kowtowing and pandering to the most ignorant fear mongering that runs amok within our society; educated people should know better and our children deserve better educators than this.

The real trouble here is that Charter Oak School District will ultimately lose this litigation and be forced to pay this man a sizable piece of money for his trouble and the children and our schools will be lose even more money which could be directed to teachers and campus upkeep (have you seen the fields at Royal Oak?? Uggh!).

What a pity we have sunk this low; it's time to bring on the dark ages and the Salem Witch Hunts again, where is my torch? Great job, Mike and Kathleen, I hope you are sleeping well at night.

One angry citizen of Covina...

What is this... the 1950s or 60s? If there is one thing I can't stand, it is when people or institutions interrupt (or infringe) upon one's civil liberties. If the man is doing his job the way he's supposed to, then let him work!

From the comments, Mitch Stein seems to be a good guy.

To all of the posters here - Why don't we rally around this man and demand a change? Why don't we schedule a rally at the District offices and get the local TV stations to show up and report it? I can't describe how irate I become when ignorance trumps logic and compassion. If we all reach out to 10 people we know; we would have a great turnout!

Come on Folks...let's do it!

Power to the People...and not the Beaurecrats...!

This crap happens. In high school, I was confronted about my orientation because an anonymous letter was sent to the most far right, born again teacher. The note said I was making out in the lower lot after school with my then girlfriend. To which she and I both replied, "you mean the lot both of our parents park in ten minutes before school lets out so they can pick us up?" Never was there an opportunity to do what was accused, but still, the anonymous letter was used as exhibit A as they attempted to "counsel us away from our behavior." People love drama, to interfere, and to get involved in things they have no right to in the name of the children. Meanwhile, the bullies come out of the woodwork to make lfe hell for those involved.

It's also extremely petty and naive of any district or parent to think that only one gay staff member works at every high school. There are quite a few in the educational system and their orientation has absolutely no relevance towards their competency. I have known parents who didn't want their kids to be taught by Catholics, LDS , Asians or people with tattoos! It's California and it's the 21st century. There's no room for small minds or rampant discrimination. If people can do their job...let them.

Unbelievable! NOT GAY, but gay friendly, and now he's let go because *My Opinion* His Posts made COHS Uncomfortable! So Much BULLSHIT because UNCOMFORTABLE is the new Green light for Homo/Trans-Phobia!

govt officials, and regular joes get fired ALL the time for having questionable content or remarks from twitter/facebook/myspace it is ALL the same. If you have a personal account, keep it private, this would NOT have been an issue. Leaders should be ABOVE REPROACH and best represent themselves, their team, athletes, whatever. Companies all the time will require their employees where long sleeve shirts b/c of their tattoos. Are tattoos inherently bad??? NO! but that is not how their company wants to be perceived. Coaches should be the example to their district, team and parents for how they would like their children to live. This is another person trying to work the system but in this case its the homosexual card instead of the race card or I am a woman card or whatever. Bottom line, people are watching you, keep your private life private. I would fire my coach regardless of sexual orientation if their public sites had questionable content that I did not want my team to be a part of whether it was risque pictures (which I am not alleging these were risque, just using as an example) drugs, alcohol etc... This is just another example of how people are allowing their private lives to become public through social networking. keep your private life private. period.

Sue sue sue sue sue. Shame on Charter Oak High School. Wait until the Human Rights Campaign gets hold of this. REINSTATE HIM, idiots.

This parent that made the claim should come fwd and stop hiding. Sounds like he has a problem. Why does one parent get to speak for all the parents? Mitch is a great coach and coached well this summer and no issues were brought up then. Mitch sure would be better than what JV has now. The parent that complained should maybe think about the reprecussions that are going to happen when his son is singled out if he is still on the wp team. C.O sure has had alot of issues with their yearbooks, bullying,drugs and bad teachers. Sure is funny what the district seems to pay attention too! Maybe the school should have asked what the WP parents and kids what they wanted. Seems from the talk around the pool all kids are in favor of Mitch. Sounds to me there is a parent with issues. Sure would be interesting to dig into that parents background! Leave Mitch's dtr alone-she's a great girl who stands behind her father. I thought this kind of behavior was a thing in the past! Charter Oak should do what's right for a change. If you are going to single Mitch out then you better look at all the staff and district! We all know a few people that need to go from that school! Reinstate him! I am proud to know Mitch and we ALL support you! For the parents that have issues with Mitch-quit and move to another district. One parent can not speak for all of us!

To Ms. Amaya. You referenced in an earlier post that the board meeting is at 6 p.m., but the Oct. 6 open session will be moved up one hour to 5 p.m. to accommodate attendance of a Charter Oak Partners in Education fundraiser event and preview of "Dracula" at the Covina Center for the Performing Arts.

Where do the candidates stand on this issue? Elections are coming up, and if you people are really interested in changing how things work around here I suggest you make your opinions heard with a vote. There are THREE incumbents running and TWO challengers. Just sayin'...............

Do you REALLY think that educated people who have dedicated their lives to serve children are going to discriminate based on someone being gay? C'mon people. Mr. Stein admitted he is openly gay and used to work for the district in the 1990s. Why would they hire him back if they were just going to terminate him for being gay? Common sense, people. What about these photos? How many of you have seen them? Why hasn't Mr. Stein provided these pictures for all to see? He keeps commenting on 2 of them, but it's been rumored that there was more. Why don't you see the full content of all the photos then judge the decisions. If he was a truck driver or a grocery store clerk, what he had on his facebook most likely wouldn't make anyone bat an eye. HOWEVER, for those who work with children as coach, teacher, pastor, school staff, etc., you are held to a higher standard, like it or not. It seems to the common sense mind, that Mr. Stein was let go for poor judgment...not for being gay.

...Just sayin'...

You are leaving out a critical fact, that this was nobody's business or concern until a parent used the photos to humiliate Coach Stein in retaliation. That's not right. So, if some parent is mad at a "at will employee" for being tough on their kid, all they have to do is dig up something on them? After years of dedicated service that's what it comes down to? Maybe you are right, maybe there are other incriminating photos and that is why he was fired. But if that's the case, the district should come clean and say so. And, by the way, not hide behind the principal like it was her decision alone. And why not use your real name? Just sayin'.

You have a website filled with comments to "sue, sue, sue!" Mr. Stein has obviously tied the district's hands. Read the attorney letter. It's a "personnel matter" now. Mr. Stein is the only one who can talk. It is unfortunate that the information was sent anonymously. Anonymous really means coward, so we agree there. But, in the end, if there was not a concern, he would not have been let go...not these days, not for that reason. Shouldn't our superintendent and princial error on the side of our children? Fair? Maybe not. But it is a critical issue in this time of facebook and myspace. There are no rules or laws...yet. But, it's coming. What if an anonymous parent brought about an issue of bullying seen on facebook and there was a potential threat to a student...should that not be investigated? Erring on the side of our students, I would think yes. And, I would imagine the same would apply...if there was concern, action would be taken. Thanks for the dialogue...Pamela Roberts/Glendora Parent

For him to be fired because of his sexual orientation is completely immature and ignorant, the thing that really upsets me is that the school went into his personal life which is noone elses buisness and fired him practically through a loop hole.

For him to be fired because of his sexual orientation is completely immature and ignorant, the thing that really upsets me is that the school went into his personal life which is noone elses buisness and fired him practically through a loop hole.