COURT RULES BELLEVUE SCHOOL DISTRICT HAS IMMUNITY

IN BHS FOOTBALL CASE

Former Assistant Coach Pat Jones states he will not appeal

Former Bellevue football coach Pat Jones will not appeal the recent court ruling which determined that
the Bellevue School District has immunity with regard to its May 23, 2016 self-report to the KingCo
Conference on alleged violations of the WIAA’s rule on coaching work during the summer. The court
ruled that, “BSD was not the decision-maker but rather, was the reporting party. WIAA and KingCo were
the decision makers.” The court also ruled that, “The opinions that rules were violated are not
statements of fact and therefore are not actionable as defamation.”

Jones issued the following statement, “We are puzzled with the court’s determination that BSD is not
the decision maker on this particular WIAA rule as the rule itself requires BSD determination. Our
settlement agreement with the WIAA, Sea-King and KingCo made it very clear that these three entities
relied on BSD’s determination. However, as with a decision made by a referee in an athletic contest, we
must respect and adhere to the decision made by the judge. Given the court’s decision regarding
immunity, we have no further interest in appealing or fighting this issue and it is time for all sides to
move on.

“We are pleased with the decisions made in the arbitration matter and in PERC that coaches of BSD did
in fact deserve just cause and due process, that the $500 in a season rule in the summer was in fact
unlawfully enforced against coaches, and that the two-year hiring ban against coaches was unlawful.
Additionally, we secured contract language for all coaches in the Bellevue School District to protect
them from being unknowingly accused of rule violations and having those reported, prior to coaches
first being afforded the opportunity to defend themselves. We also showed that coaches, athletic
directors, principals and booster clubs reasonably relied on the BSD interpretation of WIAA Rule 23.1.1
which was made at the time of the rule’s inception in 2007 that it did not apply to summer coaching
activities in the Bellevue School District.

“I would like to thank the many coaches of BSD who assisted with this process, and I would especially
like to thank my daughter Jordan and my wife Marianne for putting their lives and careers literally on
hold for two years in order to help me and the other coaches of BSD battle through this process. It has
been a difficult time for all sides involved and I need to get back to being a father, spouse, coach and
community member and focus my time and efforts there. “