EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. (KFGO/WCCO) – Eden Prairie head boys varsity basketball coach David Flom could soon learn if he will keep his job after the school suspended him last week for using racist language during a team meeting.
According to an email about the incident, Flom read a social media post that included a racial slur during a classroom session with players and assistant coaches. The session was reportedly focused on the responsible use of social media.
“Coach Flom was attempting to educate his players on the impact of their words, as well as the permanence and impact of social media, by using this example. During the course of explaining the situation, which included screen shots of the racially insensitive social media posts, Coach Flom read aloud the version of the N-word used in the post – to the team,” Eden Prairie assistant coach Nick Ravn wrote in an email shared with players, parents, and alumni. “This was a mistake. Coach Flom regrets that he read the word as it was written in the social media post. His intent was to educate his players.”
Ravn urged readers to contact district officials and urge them not to fire Flom, who’s been a coach and teacher at Eden Prairie since 2006.
“Terminating Coach Flom for this mistake would be a severe overreaction,” Ravn said. “Since 2006, Coach Flom has been an Eden Prairie Schools elementary teacher and the head varsity boys’ basketball coach. His success as a coach is undeniable – he was named 2020 NHSCA National High School Boys’ Basketball Coach of the Year – but, for many, his legacy as a role model for the community of Eden Prairie and the thousands of players who have come through his youth and varsity programs is most powerful.”
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