M-A basketball coach Mike Molieri placed on leave

Molieri was placed paid administrative leave last month by the Sequoia Union High School District. Reasons for the action against Molieri — a Strategies for Teaching based on Autism Research instructor who has taught at Menlo-Atherton for the past 21 years — remain unclear.

“It’s their home, that room,” said Jermaine Sutton, parent of M-A junior basketball player Jacob Sutton. “A lot of the athletes go in there. They went in there, the coach is not there. They said: ‘Where’s coach?’ And they said: ‘We don’t know. He’s on leave.’”

The mystery surrounding Molieri’s leave stems from the confidential student file of former Menlo-Atherton student Keanu Donshay Caldwell, who was arrested April 28, 2023, outside the school.

Caldwell, who was a STAR student at the school at the time of his arrest, was arrested at a bus stop outside the school and his friend, unnamed as he is still a minor, was detained. Caldwell was arrested on several charges, including alleged assault, battery and threatening a school official. He was released later that day before the charges were filed.

The charges were later dropped, and a lawsuit “Caldwell vs. the Sequoia Union High School District and the Menlo-Atherton Police Department” was filed against the school district and the police department. The suit is headed by Oakland civil rights attorney John L. Burris, teaming with co-counsel Paula Canny and Evan Goldstein. Mike Molieri’s brother Dan Molieri is working as a lead investigator, and has previously worked for Burris as an investigator.

Dan Molieri said Mike Molieri is being accused of providing authorities with Caldwell’s documents.

“They’re saying that [Mike Molieri] released confidential files,” Dan Molieri said. “Which is the exact thing we’re suing the district for, for federal offenses. But he’s not a named defendant because he’s got nothing to do with this.”

Dan Molieri spoke at Wednesday’s SUHSD meeting during the public comment portion. Dan Molieri previously had a 14-day “stay away order” filed against him for following SUHSD Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Todd Beal out of an Aug. 21 school board meeting and making perceived threatening comments, according to the Redwood City Pulse.

Dan Molieri said he contested the “stay away order” and was allowed to speak at Wednesday’s school board meeting, during which he said Mike Molieri’s name was not mentioned in a Menlo-Atherton Police Department report that cited obtaining Caldwell’s records.

“A trained police officer forgets to put the name of the administrator who gave this file,” Dan Molieri said, “but at this point we don’t know how many until we depose all of you, and then we’ll find out how many of you have committed these federal and state acts. But this officer wrote it in a police report. On the back of this report are all of his files, all in violation of the student privacy act and Ferva and IDEA violations. So, my question is: Why is my brother home for 42 days on paid administrative leave for these alleged same violations that you claim he did?”

Several students have spoken at the school board meetings on behalf of Mike Molieri, who coached the M-A boys’ basketball team for the past 12 years. At last Wednesday’s meeting seven players took the podium, Jacob Sutton and one other student speaking on behalf of the team.

“It’s been terrible for the kids,” Jermaine Sutton said. “It continues to be terrible.”

One M-A student spoke at Wednesday’s meeting, junior Matt Nicholas.

“I obviously hope he comes back,” Nicholas said. “We all love him. I hope, if he isn’t back, that we can win as many game for him as possible.”