Turmoil inside El Camino Real’s athletic department deepened last week when multiple coaches and teachers were placed on administrative leave amid an investigation involving CPR and first-aid certifications.
Parents confirmed that several coaches were escorted off campus Thursday, including decorated baseball coach Josh Lienhard, who has led El Camino Real to five City Section championships.
“All I can confirm is that there is an investigation,” interim executive director Emilie Larew told the Los Angeles Times. “I am unable to comment on details related to a pending investigation.”
According to the Times, the school referred the matter to a third party after questions arose over whether CPR and first-aid certification cards were valid because they did not appear in a Red Cross database. The certifications had previously been approved by the school’s athletic director.
A source told the Times that the coaches completed an online course that has also been used by other schools.
That has only intensified questions about whether the certification issue is the entirety of the investigation.
If the dispute amounts to coaches taking the wrong online course or paperwork failing to appear in a database, some observers argued that placing multiple staffers on leave and escorting them off campus appears disproportionate. One social media commenter called it a “weekend fixable issue,” while another wrote, “It’s gotta [be] more than CPR cards.”
The school has not publicly detailed the scope of the investigation, leaving parents and supporters to wonder whether investigators are examining something broader than an administrative mistake.
Others have cautioned against minimizing the issue. CPR certification is a basic safety requirement for coaches responsible for student-athletes, particularly when athletic trainers are not always present. But even that raises another question: If the certifications were improper, how were they approved in the first place, and who was responsible for verifying them?
The investigation comes during an already turbulent period at El Camino Real.
Executive director David Hussey and assistant principal Jason Camp, who oversaw athletics, were removed this summer. During board chairman Brad Wright’s tenure, the school has also replaced its football coach, boys and girls basketball coaches, tennis coach and athletic director, while its prominent softball program also lost its coach.
Wright told the Times he did not know which coaches were under investigation. Athletic director Richard Russell did not respond to The California Post’s request for comment.
Coaches who also teach are expected to receive assistance from United Teachers Los Angeles representatives.
Parents and athletes are now waiting to see whether the coaches will be reinstated.
For a school already dealing with substantial leadership turnover, the latest investigation has become another source of uncertainty — and the severity of the response has only fueled suspicion that there may be more to the story than disputed CPR cards.
