Chaparral High School teacher and coach of multiple sports – including swimming – Richie Krzyzanowski has been put on paid administrative leave after an investigation by the Arizona Department of Education found he does not have the “right credentials for the certificates he holds,” 12 News reported Friday.
Krzyzanowski, a former All-American at Grand Canyon University, has been at Chaparral since 2014 and was put on leave Feb. 13, according to the district. His case was heard in front of a Professional Practices Advisory Committee (PPAC) this month, 12 News reported.
The state says Krzyzanowski used falsified records when applying for a principal pre-K-12 certificate in July 2019.
“Using falsified AEPA score reports – not just one set, but two – and a falsified institutional recommendation from Grand Canyon University,” Kim Anderson, an assistant attorney general, said at the hearing.
The PPAC recommended the Board of Education revoke Krzyzanowski’s certificate, voting 5 to 0, and a decision is expected to come March 23.
“I have my master’s degree and I had I took my assessments and everything like that,” Krzyzanowski told 12 News. “Everything I’ve done and continue – that I’ve continued to do through this investigation has been focused on the students.”
Arizona’s high school swimming season runs in the fall – the Chaparral girls won their sixth straight state title in Nov. 2019, and the boys finished 2nd. Last spring, after the conclusion of high school seasons nation-wide, the girls were named the 2018-19 NISCA public schools national swim and dive champion. In 2016, Krzyzanowski led the boys’ team, including state record-holder Ryan Hoffer, to its first state title in seven years.
Krzyzanowski is a math teacher at Chapparral, and has been the head swimming and diving coach since the 2015-2016 season, where he was named the Girls Swimming Coach of the Year in his first season as the program’s head coach. He has since won several other Arizona Coach of the Year honors.
This is an absolute disgrace. The kids are devastated to learn someone they looked to as a coach cheated. Maybe not in the sport but, even more importantly, in life. So sad.
Best coach Chaparral ever had. That man really cares about the kids. Look at his record. We always concentrate on the bad rather than the good that someone does.