PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Joe Racicot has given four decades of his life to coaching basketball and spent the last 14 years at Pittsfield High.

 

That career came to an abrupt end in late November, and Racicot says he did not get a good explanation why.

 

"I feel like I'm cheated because I didn't get an opportunity to discuss this," Racicot said recently. "For somebody to come in and make a decision and just make a phone call the Friday before the season starts …

 

"I never really got a reason other than: The administration wanted you gone, and we wanted to go in another direction."

 

What Racicot did get, and what may have contributed to a decision not to renew him as varsity coach of the Pittsfield girls program, is a Nov. 7 letter from the school district's director of human resources informing him that he was under investigation for "alleged misconduct."

 

In it, Ann Marie Carpenter cites two allegations: that Racicot allowed a culture of "uncomfortable comments toward students or uninvited physical touch," and that he himself made an off-color remark to a female student athlete during a practice on an unspecified date.

 

Racicot denies both allegations, but he did not have a chance to answer to the accusations in front of school officials.

 

The Nov. 7 letter summoned him to a Nov. 20 meeting with the HR director and the athletic director. Racicot had to postpone that meeting because of illness; it was never rescheduled, and, instead, he learned on Nov. 29 that he would not be renewed.

 

The state's start date for high school basketball practice was Monday, Dec. 2.

 

Racicot said neither the letter nor the pending investigation were mentioned as a reason for the decision in the Nov. 29 phone call with Pittsfield Public Schools Athletic Director Brandon Rousseau.

 

Rousseau declined to talk about a reason why Racicot did not return with the Generals this winter, instead emphasizing that all of the district's coaches are on one-year contracts and need to apply for their job before the start of each season.

 

In a brief conversation about the situation last week, Rousseau repeatedly called the letter an "HR matter" and could not recall whether he mentioned the letter in the Nov. 29 phone call, saying at one point, "I talked to him for 35 minutes."

 

Rousseau also repeatedly declined to say whether the decision not to renew Racicot was his alone. At one point, he said all hires are ultimately the principal's decision, but he agreed that they generally are delegated to the athletic director.

 

He said it was not typical to make a coaching change the last business day before the start of preseason but noted that the district's spring coaching positions are currently posted as open for applicants.

 

Repeated emails to both the PIttsfield Public Schools' human resource director and the Pittsfield High School principal asking for information about the process of the investigation and its status as well as who made the decision not to renew Racicot were ignored.

 

Midday Wednesday, Pittsfield Schools Superintendent Joseph Curtis said he would, "ask Ms. Carpenter to return the answers to your questions if legally able." As of the end of the business day on Friday, Carpenter is yet to even acknowledge the repeated requests for comment.

 

Racicot, 70, said one of his frustrations throughout the winter has been the fact that people in the community — even some with close ties to high school basketball — thought he had chosen to retire.

 

He said he was not sure whether the 2024-25 season would have been his last but indicated that he would not want to leave the cover bare for a potential successor. With just three seniors on a 10-player varsity roster, the current edition of the Generals appear to be the kind of team that could be successful for years to come.

 

"I didn't leave on my own terms, which would have been nice," Racicot said.

 

An assistant coach on this year's team who scored 1,000 points at Pittsfield with Racicot as her coach said she had heard something about an HR letter but did not know any of the specifics.

 

"My initial reaction is that's absurd," Peyton Steinman said when she heard details of the letter's content. "Coach Racicot is obviously someone I played with for four years. He was involved even prior to high school coaching with me and coaching other young women.

 

"I can confidently say I've never seen anything that would indicate those allegations are true."

 

One of Steinman's fellow high school teammates had a similar reaction.

 

"Honestly, that's shocking to hear those allegations," Bella Aitken said. "I've never heard any kind of accusations from any other girls involved in the program. He's great. He's very supportive of Pittsfield High School.

 

"Especially when I was on the team, all the girls, including me, had a great relationship with him."

 

2012 PHS grad Abigail Hunt, like Steinman, played for and coached with Racicot and said she was "dumbfounded" when she heard about the HR letter.

 

"I think people are a lot more negative these days, and it causes them to view things through the lens of malice and skepticism," Hunt said this week.

 

On the other hand, Hunt, who said she "respects and admires" Racicot, also did not want to "victim blame."

 

"I don't want to discredit anyone's experience," Hunt said. "But it hurts my heart if anyone felt uncomfortable."

 

Steinman said it was surprising and "weird" when Racicot was not there on the first day of practice in December. But she said the players benefited from having him succeeded by Kristy Conyers, who coached in the Generals program and was familiar to the players.

 

"The main thing with the girls is kind of shifting their focus that there's still a basketball season and games to be played and hopefully won," Steinman said. "Definitely [Conyers' presence] helps. It wasn't someone brand new. They knew coach Conyers. They respect her. She's a great coach.

 

"If anyone is going to come in after coach Racicot, I'm glad it's Kristy."

 

Racicot coached the girls basketball team at Taconic High School starting in the mid-'80s. He was an assistant women's coach at Lamar University in Texas for two years before returning to the Berkshires, coaching at Hoosac Valley for nine years before signing on at PHS.

 

He said his experience with Rousseau, who took over as AD in 2023, was unlike other interactions he has had in the past.

 

"[The Nov. 29 phone call] was the first time I've ever talked to the guy on the phone other than scheduling," Racicot said. "When he was hired, there was no meeting, no anything. There was an introduction at a basketball game. That was it.

 

"In the past, with any school I was at or anywhere else, if there was a problem or something went awry during the season, somebody didn't like something or a complaint was thrown out there, the AD would make a call to the coach and you'd have a conversation about particular events that were alleged.

 

"My biggest complaint is, 'Why didn't we have a sit-down two days or a month after the season if these complaints were filed?' "

 

Hunt made a similar point.

 

"Even if they were going to go another direction with the program, people deserve a chance to defend themselves and to have people who know you speak up for you," she said. "Or even the other way, sometimes there really is misconduct going on, and you should hear from people who can speak to that."

 

Among the questions from iBerkshires.com that have been ignored by district administrators: "When did the district become aware of the allegations?; How many people did the HR department talk to in conducting this investigation?; and what is the usual time frame for expanding those interviews to include the subject of an investigation?"

 

The good news in all this is that the distraction of losing their coach does not seem to have impacted the Generals on the court. Pittsfield started the season 10-0 — good enough to clinch a berth in the Division 3 State Tournament — before taking its first loss on Monday at D2 Minnechaug of Wilbraham.

 

"I'm happy for the team, and I kind of had a good idea that they were going to do well this year, obviously," Racicot said. "To be honest, I have been following them, and I will.

 

"I feel like I should be there."