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School district recommends Kansas HS baseball coach's firing after he said racial slur to Black player

The Olathe School District is recommending that Olathe North High School baseball coach Pete Flood be removed from his job.

The father of the only Black player on Flood's baseball team said Friday on Facebook that Flood had directed a racial slur towards his son. Tony Banks said that the team was playing rap music while warming up before a recent game and told his son that "n***** music" wasn't supposed to be played before games and only rock and country music was pre-game appropriate.

Olathe is a suburb on the southwest side of the Kansas City metro area. Flood previously served as the Olathe North football coach from 2006-2011.

From the Kansas City Star:

Tony Banks told The Star that his son, a senior and the only Black player on the team, helped set up speakers to play music during batting practice before a game against Olathe South. The teens were playing rap music as they took their swings, he said.

Banks said Flood walked up to his son, looked him in the eyes and told him, “We don’t play that N— music over here. We only play country and rock music.”

Banks told the Star that other players and parents confirmed what Flood had said and that he had informed the district of what happened on Thursday night. Friday, the district placed Flood on leave and confirmed in a statement that he had said the racial slur.

"We are appalled by the remarks made by the Olathe North head baseball coach and have thoroughly investigated the situation," the school said. "The staff member has been placed on administrative leave and a recommendation for immediate termination has been submitted to the Board of Education. The comments made are absolutely unacceptable. In the Olathe Public Schools, our priority is the well-being of ALL our students. Racist and derogatory statements will never be tolerated. This is not who we are in Olathe. Our focus now is on the support and care of our students."

Flood's firing could come as soon as next week. The school board has scheduled a meeting for Monday morning.

Flood has been with the school district for over 20 years and a spokesperson for the district told the Star that he was in his first season as the school's baseball coach.

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