Mike SciaccaThe tide turned favorably Tuesday morning...

Mike Sciacca

The tide turned favorably Tuesday morning for Andy Verdone. For the

teacher and coach who was being forced to leave his beloved school

for another within the Huntington Beach Union High School District

this fall, the black ball was replaced by a green flag.

Verdone, the long-time surf coach and special education teacher at

Huntington Beach High School since 1983, received a transfer notice

on June 17, notifying him that due to budget cuts his teaching

position had been eliminated and that he was being transferred to

Westminster High.

On Tuesday, following a loud public outcry from a community

Verdone taught to surf, district administrators offered him the

chance to stay on as a teacher and coach at Huntington Beach High.

“My life’s been on hold for these past few months and just a few

minutes ago, it changed again,” he said early Tuesday.

A transfer would have meant Verdone would no longer be teaching

special day education at Huntington, coaching the school’s

tradition-rich surf program or oversee its year-round, early-morning

surf class. Instead, he was to be transferred to a school, where he

once was a student-teacher in physical education and one that has no

surf program, to teach in its special day class program.

While his was not the only position eliminated in the district,

His special education position at Huntington was one of two

eliminated in the district, news of his transfer drew immediate vocal

responses.

“You need someone like him on campus, someone who is a teacher at

the school and knows the ins-and-outs of the students,” said Barry

Deffenbaugh, a 1991 graduate of Huntington Beach High who surfed in

the Oiler program.

Barry Deffenbaugh and his brother, Jeff, who recently took over

the Huntington Beach Surf Series, attended the July 8 board meeting.

“He’s the best person for the job at Huntington,” Barry

Deffenbaugh said. “He gives 110% to the students, whereas a walk-on

coach wouldn’t. I’ve seen both sides because I surfed for a walk-on

coach my freshman year. I was going to be dropped from the team but

Andy, who was then a teacher on campus, worked with me. He helped me

figure out how to get on the right path and didn’t give up on me. He

became our surf coach the very next year and I became a part of the

surf program.”

The early morning phone call Tuesday from James Keating, the

district’s director of special education, may quiet those outraged

voices. Keating offered Verdone a resource specialist position and a

chance to stay at Huntington Beach High.

Verdone said he will come to a decision on the offer within the

next week.

“We’re working so that he can stay at Huntington Beach,” Supt. Van

Riley said. “I can’t go into specifics but will confirm that he was

offered the resource specialist position as well as the chance to

continue to teach the surf class at Huntington.

“He has had great support from the students, parents and faculty

at Huntington. I think this [position] will be good for the school

and Andy. The students, special education and the surf club are the

things that he loves.”

On July 8, Riley’s second day as the district’s superintendent, he

witnessed nearly 100 supporters -- present and past students, parents

and business owners -- turn out at the district’s board meeting to

show support for Verdone in an effort to stem the tide and help

prevent him from being transferred to Westminster.

“We as a board listened to those supporters speak out and they

were very committed to getting their voice heard,” said Brian

Garland, a member of district board.

Ironically, it was Garland’s brother, Bill, who helped shape the

surf program at Huntington Beach High in the late 1960s.

“At times it was heart-wrenching as people spoke out,” he said.

“Andy certainly has the strong support for the staff, students and

parents at Huntington Beach High to continue to carry on the

exemplary surf program at the school.

“More importantly, Andy is an excellent teacher. I had hoped the

district would take a good, strong look and reevaluate the decision

to transfer Andy. I think it’d be in the best interest of Huntington

Beach High. The original decision to transfer Andy just came down to

being a part of district’s budget cuts.”

Verdone had begun to pack his bags since receiving the transfer

letter on June 17, boxing memories of 20 years of teaching in the

school’s special education program and coaching, not to mention

putting away the devotion he gave to continuing the proud surf

program tradition of the Oilers.

The national championships, the league titles, the young surfers

who traveled through the program to later find success at the

professional level, all had packed away.

“I was in shock,” Verdone said about first hearing rumors about a

possible transfer a few months ago.

Being offered the resource specialist position was a “great

development” after last week’s school board meeting, he said.

“I’m very happy to have had the support of the kids, parents and

administration and very happy that the opportunity to stay at

Huntington Beach High has been presented,” said Verdone who also said

he’d like to land a physical education position at the school.

Verdone said he wants to return to coaching as an assistant with

the Oiler football and baseball programs, even basketball.

The surf program, he said, will always be his main passion.

“Coaching the surf program is the greatest job in the world -- and

I’m fortunate to have it,” he said. “I felt like the luckiest guy

when I had this position but my whole world was pulled out from

beneath me when I got the transfer notice. Now, the district is

giving me the opportunity to stay at the school I love.”

And with that, Verdone headed out to do what he does best -- surf.

* MIKE SCIACCA covers sports and features. He can be reached at

(714) 965-7171 or by e-mail at [email protected].