Moorpark Board Assailed for Football Investigation

MOORPARK — A large and vocal group of Moorpark High football coaches, players and parents turned up at a school board meeting Tuesday to protest the board’s recent investigation into alleged violations by the team.

“It is with great difficulty that I come up here today,” Coach Rob Dearborn told the board in a packed session held at Arroyo West School. “Enough is enough. Leave them alone, let them play football, let us coach football.”

Robert Bigley, a Moorpark resident with three children in the district--one of whom plays on the varsity team--read aloud a letter he had sent to each board member.

“I am writing to you to protest your recent inquisitions into the football program,” Bigley wrote. “I consider your actions to be politically driven meddling in matters which should be left to the administration.”

Other speakers were more direct, some calling for the resignation of board president Pam Castro--whom they identified as the driving force behind the investigation of the football program.

“The citizens of this community will not tolerate the behavior of Pam Castro anymore,” said William Finnerty, who has two sons playing football at Moorpark. “We thereby call upon her to submit her resignation.”

After board members said they received calls of concern from residents, the board in September agreed in closed session to probe alleged improper transfers of players into the district.

Superintendent Tom Duffy, Castro and board member Greg Barker were appointed to conduct an investigation, which Duffy said at Tuesday’s meeting has failed to confirm any wrongdoing.

“We have not seen anything that is material,” Duffy said in a report to the board, adding that the investigation is closed.

Three players in Moorpark’s offensive backfield transferred to the school this year. Quarterback Tyler Dritz, who lives in Westlake, is the son of Moorpark principal Cary Dritz. Running back Reggie Maddox moved to Moorpark from Los Angeles and running back Bryan Wilkins moved to Moorpark from Littlerock two weeks ago to live with his mother.

All three transfers have been approved by the Southern Section, Dearborn said.

One target of the investigation was former Moorpark standout Toussaint Powdrill, whose mother, Gina, made a fiery address to the board. Powdrill said she enrolled her son in Moorpark High to distance him from San Fernando Valley gangs, not to allow him to play football for Moorpark.

“Neither football nor athletics played a role in my decision to transfer Toussaint to Moorpark,” she said. “If it had, I certainly would not have put him into a losing situation.”

As a senior in 1990, Toussaint Powdrill rushed for 1,018 yards and Moorpark finished 5-6.

Gina Powdrill added that Castro conducted a two-hour interview with Toussaint during which she asked whether coaches paid the player’s rent and whether Dearborn and other coaches paid other students to do his school work.

Powdrill ended by demanding a formal apology and said she is considering a suit against Castro and the district on the grounds of defamation of character, invasion of privacy and trespassing.

Board member Tom Baldwin said before the meeting that he didn’t understand why the investigation spawned such outrage.

“To the best of my knowledge, the board was doing its job,” he said. “When complaints are made, it is our duty to look into them.”

Staff writer Dana Haddad contributed to this story.