4 days ago
East Grand Forks parents allege city isn't doing enough to combat bullying in parks and recreation programs
Jun. 4—GRAND FORKS — A group of parents say they feel that East Grand Forks Parks and Recreation is not doing enough to stop bullying within its programs.
Three parents spoke in front of the East Grand Forks City Council during its meeting on Tuesday. The parents presented several allegations about the conduct of coaches and parks and recreation staff, but most were centered around Parks and Recreation Coordinator John Wuitschick.
"For over a year, I've witnessed and documented a troubling pattern of bullying, retaliation, dishonesty and mismanagement under (Wuitschick's) leadership," East Grand Forks resident Matt Hanglesben told the council. "These issues are professional failures that affect our youth and the families who trust this city to protect them."
Hanglesben alleges that the city did not do enough to prevent his son from being bullied during his participation in East Grand Forks Parks and Recreation programs. He also alleges that parks and recreation, namely Wuitschick, has retaliated against his son because of his actions to bring up those issues.
"(Wuitshick) also tried to force our team of 11-, 12- and 13-year-old kids to go to a (LGBT) Pride event with him the night before our first state tournament," Hanglesben said. "He made this decision without consulting any parents. ... When I told him that my son wasn't going to go, he retaliated by telling me my children were no longer welcome to play in his summer hockey teams."
He added that he, along with other parents he has spoken with, has felt that the quality of programming has gone down since Wuitshick was hired. Wuitshick was first hired by the city in June 2024 as a parks and recreation specialist and later as the parks and recreation coordinator in March.
The behavior also extends into coaching practices as well for at least five years, parent Anna Dumas claimed.
"These concerns have been brought up to parks and rec's attention numerous times," Dumas said. "This past season, when I shared my concerns again, instead of taking a look at the coach's behavior, they chose to blame my 11-year-old daughter instead."
Parker Carlson added that, "this year we had a coach have to leave the bench because of a fight with another coach, so our kids got to witness their coaches fight. ... It doesn't make any sense for these kids to have to go through this."
The City Council was concerned about these allegations, but said it wants more information before making any decisions.
"My attitude is we can't fix it if we don't know, and so now there's something that has been brought to our attention. How you personally feel about it doesn't really matter in my opinion, but we have a responsibility to look into it," Council member Tami Schumacher said. "Hearing these concerns, it bothers me, so I would like to see something moving forward."
City Administrator Reid Huttunen said that he's begun an investigation into the matter and is putting together information on the sequence of events. He told the council he wasn't sure if that investigation would be ready before the next meeting, but that he would continue to work with the city attorney and city human resources on the matter.
Parks and Recreation Superintendent Jeremy King also spoke in front of the council, saying that from his perspective, Wuitshick has been doing a good job.
"We had an outreach from a lot of different residents and participants in our programs who really like the direction that our parks and rec department is going, and really enjoy what (Wuitshick) has been doing there," King said. "There was a lot of pointed and tough messages heard here today, but I want everyone to know there are two sides to the story ... and that from a department head perspective, (Wuitshick) has been doing a great job and we enjoy and like the changes."
In other news, the council:
* Directed city staff to continue negotiations with Midco for the upcoming franchise fee renewal contract, but to negotiate fewer in-kind cable services. The change would mean that schools in the city would no longer have in-kind services provided. The in-kind service will also be redacted from the total amount collected from the franchise fee, around $3,000.
* Moved forward two ordinances regulating conduct in public spaces in the city. One ordinance would make camping illegal in non-designated
public spaces and the other would set hours and motor vehicle rules for city parks.
The council will be considering the ordinances again later this month.
