Ex-Fox Lane Girls Basketball Coach Shocked About Firing

At Wednesday's Bedford school board meeting, former varsity girls basketball Coach Ayo Hart described herself as being "a little shocked" about her removal.

“I feel as if after the years of commitment, the service that I’ve done to this team and to this community, I feel I’ve been cast aside in the middle of the season like a common criminal," she told the board.

Hart, a Pound Ridge resident and mother of twin daughters who go to school in the district, said she got notice of the termination on Jan. 17. She had been a coach on the team for 11 years, first as an assistant then as head coach.

“It was never written or, you know, concretely put forth, but the perception that I had was that Ms. [Beth] Staropoli questioned my committed to the program," she said, referring to Fox Lane's athletic director.

Hart, telling reporters, said that Staropoli told her that her decision to leave a game the week before against Port Chester was a confirmation that she was not committed to the program. Hart said that Staropoli then asked for her resignation, which she refused to do. The reason for leaving, Hart said, was because she had to go to a business trip for her company, which she co-owns with her husband. Hart believes that she told Staropoli in advance about her plans to leave, and even if she didn't, she does not believe it was grounds for an immediate dismissal.

Staropoli could not be reached for comment. School board President Susan Elion Wollin and Superintendent Jere Hochman declined to comment because it involves a personnel matter.

Hart, who also coached Fox Lane's girls tennis team for six years, noted that she is committed and talked about her history with examples.

“I coached two days before I delivered my kids," she said.

MaryAnn Carr, a mother of an 8th grade daughter at who has played for Hart under an AAU basketball team, is frustrated with her departure.

“Everyone’s human," she said of Hart leaving the Port Chester game.

Carr also feels that Hart was not given a fair level of due process, and that the situation was not communicated properly by the district.