Clayton Principal's Resignation Draws Commentary Via Social Media

The announcement that Dr. Louise Losos will leave Clayton High School this summer has prompted feedback from people on Twitter and Facebook

News of the upcoming resignation of Dr. Louise Losos from Clayton High School over a dispute about social media use has prompted reactions from people via social media. At issue is an unconfirmed claim detailed in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that Losos created a Facebook account under the name of Suzy Harriston and used it to friend students and others associated with the school. ("Like" Clayton-Richmond Heights Patch on Facebook) Dr. Dan Gutchewsky has since been named interim principal at CHS. Here's a sampling from Twitter and Facebook. TWITTER @matthew_schott: "an amazingly interesting story at Clayton High" @BrianJGrace: "Great example of how not to use social media." @jacirifkin: "Yeah, that's my high school." @MichelleHarnois: "…

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Facebook Claim About Losos Had Been Posted to Page About Ex-Coach

Louise Losos will resign this summer, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

The resignation of Dr. Louise Losos—reported Saturday by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch—follows weeks of speculation about the Clayton High School principal's social media use. On the night before the Clayton district announced Dr. Louise Losos would be taking a leave of absence, former high school quarterback Chase Haslett posted a note on a public Facebook group. ("Like" Clayton-Richmond Heights Patch on Facebook) It made a startling claim: The CHS principal had created a Facebook profile using another name. "Whoever is friends with Suzy Harriston on Facebook needs to drop them," Haslett stated at 8:33 p.m. April 5. When another member of the group asked how he knew that, he declined to identify his source. His post—written on the Bring …

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Sam Horrell Contract Not Renewed at Clayton High School

Controversy erupted last year after Horrell, a physical education teacher, was dismissed as head football coach following an investigation into the violation of Missouri athletics by-laws.

*Editor's note: An earlier version of this article incorrectly identified Sam Horrell's titled at Clayton High School. He is a physical education teacher. This article has been updated to reflect the correct title. Former Clayton High School (CHS) football coach Sam Horrell will not return as a physical education* teacher this fall, the district confirmed Wednesday. On April 4, the Clayton Board of Education voted unanimously to not renew Horrell's contract, said Chris Tennill, chief communications officer for the School District of Clayton. The school does not have the enrollment to support another P.E. teacher, Tennill said. Horrell was the only non-tenured P.E. teacher* on staff at the high school. Tennill said the school has a total of…

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Clayton High Releases 2011 Football Schedule

The Greyhounds will open their season Aug. 27 at Lutheran North.

The Clayton High School athletics department recently marked the official start of its 2011-12 sporting year by releasing its 2011 varsity, junior varsity and freshmen football schedules. The first day of fall practice for the Greyhounds is set for Monday, which also will mark the official beginning of a new era for Clayton football. New Greyhounds head coach Scott Weissman will be taking over the program after succeeding popular former head coach Sam Horrell, who was let go from that role in May on suspicion of violating Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) policy regarding workouts for middle school athletes. Weissman, who has coached different sports at various schools around the area, won a state title as the head…

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New Football Coach Weissman 'Excited' to Work at Clayton

Scott Weissman served as a defensive coordinator at the high school in 2010.

Sometimes golden opportunities are a long time in coming: Scott Weissman, recently named the new head football coach at Clayton High School, has long wanted to lead a varsity football team. “I’m very excited about this opportunity,” Weissman said. “I wasn’t sure if it was going to happen. I’ve been ... (an assistant) coordinator about my entire career, and I’ve been a finalist for a head coaching position before, but I never quite got there. It’s good to know I’ve earned the confidence of the people in Clayton.” No stranger to prep sports, Weissman had a successful run as a head baseball coach at Parkway West and has been a part of football coaching staffs since before Clayton High’s football players were born. He coached baseball at …

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School Board Talks Greenhouse Funding, Top Officials' Departure

The Clayton Board of Education closed out 2010-11 by saying goodbye to Superintendent Mary Herrmann and Chief Financial Officer Mark Stockwell.

The Clayton Board of Education closed out the 2010-11 school year Wednesday night, holding its last public meeting until the start of the 2011-12 school year in August. In addition to wrapping up budget and curriculum concerns, the board bid farewell to Superintendent Mary Herrmann and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Mark Stockwell. The meeting began with a spirited public comment session concerning the new greenhouse at Clayton High School. One of the night’s action items concerned additional funding for the greenhouse, for which the board had already allocated $350,000. Faculty and staff lamented the need to ask for more money but insisted that it is necessary to maintain the facility. Board director Dr. Brad Bernstein questioned why the …

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Part 4 of 4: Muted Approach to Horrell Dismissal Scars Community

Clayton High School football coach Sam Horrell was let go from his coaching duties earlier this spring.

The bright lights beaming down on the turf field below produce a metallic sheen on the players’ orange and blue jerseys. Pads crack as player meets player. Cleats rip through the field as the artificial turf offers an elastic resistance. Muscle fatigue opposes collective hope as kids push themselves to their limits in a Friday night football game. For the Clayton High School football team, not much will change about the game itself next year. Footballs will still be footballs, and kids will still be kids. But a presence will be gone from the practice field during the sweltering summer, from the locker room as players make their final preparations and from the sideline as effort culminates in competition. High school administrators …

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Part 3 of 4: Hazy Workout Boundaries Likely Factored into Coach's Dismissal

Letters and interviews indicate that some Clayton students were unclear about who was permitted to participate in student workouts held at The Center of Clayton leading up to the dismissal of football coach Sam Horrell.

For weeks, the personality and reputation of one man fueled an entire community’s uprising. On May 3, Clayton High School head football coach Sam Horrell was relieved of his coaching duties by school administrators. The district released no information about the personnel decision for days, and nothing but rumors were available to fill the void. That is, until hundreds of Clayton students staged a school walkout May 6. The district could no longer afford to be silent. Administrators had not anticipated how Horrell’s dismissal would disrupt the school’s academic environment, and their lack of public explanation for why one of the school’s most popular staff members had been punished fed student dissent. On the day of the walkout, …

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Show Me the Future

Part 2 of 4: Social Media Spawned Horrell Backlash

Clayton eighth-grader Jake Brown found himself caught in the middle of a debate over football coach Sam Horrell's dismissal. In turn, he formed a group on Facebook and found a legion of supporters.

May 4 was a surreal Wednesday at Clayton High School. The news of Sam Horrell’s dismissal from the football head coaching position was saturating teenagers’ text-message inboxes. The rumor mill was churning at full capacity, unchecked by any official correspondence from school administration. General gossip held that Horrell was caught on tape working out with eighth-grade students at The Center of Clayton, a gym facility connected to the high school that also serves as the community recreation center. These workouts were said to be in violation of Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) by-laws. One of the eighth-graders was Jake Brown. When his father, Andy Brown, got wind that his son was at the middle of the …

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