By JJ Conrad | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

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Matt Stypulkoski | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

As the fate of Ramsey hockey coach Dean Portas hangs in the balance, NJ Advance Media has obtained new information relating to his power struggle with team parent and BOE president Tony Gasparovich that nearly a dozen school officials, parents and others allege was the reason Portas' contract won't be renewed.

In an exclusive interview with NJ Advance Media on Monday, his first public comments since a May 9 BOE meeting, Portas opens up about his interactions with Gasparovich and AD Jim Grasso. Portas' insight, along with documents newly obtained by NJ Advance Media, reveal a coach and AD struggling to manage the interference of a powerful team parent.

James Gasparovich eventually quit the team in early January, sending a text message to his teammates that predicted coaching changes and sparked allegations among school officials, parents and others that the BOE president is behind efforts to dismiss the coach over his son's lack of ice time.

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Documentation obtained by NJ Advance Media

The documents obtained by NJ Advance Media on Monday are texts and emails among Portas, Grasso and Gasparovich, as well as Ramsey superintendent Matt Murphy and director of personnel Molly Dinning.

What they show:

Gasparovich, in a March 2016 e-mail to Portas and all Ramsey hockey parents, voiced his displeasure when his then-freshman son was one of four players not invited to a team luncheon at Prudential Center prior to the championship game.

Gasparovich, in a Dec. 2016 e-mail to Portas, Grasso and Murphy, called for an "urgent meeting" among several school and district personnel pertaining to "conduct between RHS hockey staff and players." That meeting, says Portas, turned into a one-on-one phone call between Gasparovich and Portas about Gasparovich's son's role on the team. No conversation with Portas relating to such "conduct" ever took place, the coach said.

In a text exchange between AD Grasso and Portas, Grasso indicated, "Mr. G will be an issue," throughout the season, followed a day later by Grasso texting Portas to find out if James Gasparovich would be suiting up for the next game.

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March, 2016: Issues begin

Contention between Portas and the elder Gasparovich began late in the 2015-16 championship season. Portas was informed Ramsey could bring 25 people to the annual pre-championship luncheon at Prudential Center on March 4, 2016 -- three days before Ramsey won a state championship against rival Glen Rock.



Twenty players who logged consistent minutes on the ice that season were invited, along with two seniors who didn't play but dressed. Portas and one assistant coach also attended, and the 25th person invited by Portas was James DiTomasso, then a Ramsey junior with Down syndrome, who became a staple of Ramsey hockey over the years as a fan and team manager.

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BACKGROUND: Did Ramsey hockey coach lose job because BOE president's son didn't play enough?

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Second-guessing the lunch guests

Gasparovich’s son, then a freshman who rarely played, wasn't chosen to attend. On March 3, 2016 — in an e-mail sent to Portas and team parents and obtained by NJ Advance Media — Gasparovich questioned the selection.



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New season: Tensions escalate

Not far into the 2016-17 season, the BOE president again made his presence felt.

The day of Ramsey’s second game of the year, in an e-mail to Portas, AD Grasso, and Superintendent Murphy and obtained by NJ Advance Media, Gasparovich ordered an “urgent meeting” among the four "to discuss conduct between RHS hockey staff and players."

The e-mail was sent at 6:20 p.m. on Dec. 2, 2016. The Rams were scheduled to play at 9 p.m. James Gasparovich was not on Ramsey’s suit-up list sent out by Portas one day earlier.

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'You could see he was trying to disguise his intentions'

The email set off alarm bells for Portas, who immediately questioned Gasparovich’s motives.

“You could see he was trying to disguise his intentions saying he’s writing this e-mail as a parent of Ramsey hockey,” Portas said Monday. “Like, ‘Look, I’m sending it to you all as a parent, not as the Ramsey Board of Education president.’”

Portas reached out to his boss, AD Grasso.

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'We need to sit down and figure out what we need to do.'

At 7:32 p.m. — with a 9 p.m. game approaching — in a one-on-one text exchange between Portas and Grasso, Portas wrote: “This Gaspo thing is going to be an issue. I tried to get James on the ice [dressed for St. Joseph’s] but we can only dress 20.”

Grasso wrote in reply: “Not Anyones business but Mr. G will never be happy. I know the rule. Mr. G will be an issue. We need to sit down and figure out what we need to do.”

Portas added, “Yes. Cause his son will not play in many varsity games this season, purely cause of his lack of ability…”

Grasso followed: “I understand. [Gasparovich] does not understand.”

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“Jim Grasso was aware of Tony Gasparovich using his position to intimidate people to benefit himself,” Portas said, analyzing the exchange on Monday.

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A day later, on a Ramsey off-day with a Sunday game to follow, Grasso continued to text with Portas.

“Is James [Gasparovich] on tomorrow’s dress list?” Grasso asked Portas.

“It hasn’t been sent out yet,” Portas replied.

“Will he be on it?” Grasso asked.

“Jim, I [will] call you soon if [you’re] available,” Portas said.

“I am available,” Grasso said.

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Portas said Monday that in the ensuing phone call, Grasso urged Portas to contact Tony Gasparovich directly, which he did on Monday, Dec. 5, 2016.

The “urgent meeting” that Gasparovich requested never came to fruition. Instead, the four-person meeting on “conduct between RHS hockey staff and players” became a one-on-one phone conversation between Portas and Gasparovich, solely about his son’s status on the team, bearing out, to Portas, that the request for a larger meeting was only pretext.

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RELATED: Amid controversial ouster, scores support Ramsey hockey coach at testy BOE meeting

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JJ Conrad | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

'Can't you see how my son feels like a yo-yo..."

(Pictured above, Ramsey BOE president Tony Gasparovich)

Portas said Monday that the Dec. 5 call was all about James' Gasparovich's role on the team.

“Can’t you see how my son feels like a yo-yo, wondering if he’s dressing or not every game?” Portas said Gasparovich asked.

“I also gave him multiple tips on how his son could improve his game,” Portas said Monday. “I didn’t just say, ‘This is what it is.’ I gave him things he could improve on. I could have been cold and left it at that. But I told Mr. Gasparovich that I can’t guarantee his kid would dress for varsity games this year and No. 2, I can’t guarantee his son would get playing time.”

Portas said “conduct between RHS hockey staff and players” was never part of the conversation.

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“Talking about my conduct? It was very vague,” Portas said. “And it’s something that could leave a lot of things to the imagination. But that conversation I had, it was basically about him seeing where James falls on the depth chart. I just said, ‘James is in a spot where he’s competing for a position on the varsity team.' … I even suggested maybe playing another position.”

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Three days later, Portas informed all Ramsey hockey parents that he was discontinuing “dress lists” prior to games. Instead, parents were told a group of 17 players would be mainstays on the varsity roster, with a revolving cast — including Gasparovich’s son — being notified directly before each game whether they would dress to fill out the 20-man varsity roster.

“James [Gasparovich] was definitely on the list of in-betweens,” Portas said Monday.

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'I believe Ramsey hockey will undergo numerous changes in the coaching and staff'

On Jan. 5, 2017, exactly one month following Portas’ phone conversation with Tony Gasparovich, James Gasparovich quit Ramsey hockey. In the process, he sent a smoking-gun text message to the Ramsey hockey players’ group chat and obtained by NJ Advance Media foreshadowing Portas’ off-season fate.

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Tony Gasparovich, speaking at the BOE meeting May 9, called this text message “ill-advised.”

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Prediction fulfilled?

In late April, Grasso informed Portas that his contract wouldn't be renewed, at the time offering three reasons. In a closed-door meeting Monday with Grasso and Dinning, Portas was given a fourth reason. An expected meeting immediately afterward to discuss the reasons with Superintendent Murphy and principal Michael Thumm never happened, according to Portas.

At the May 9 BOE meeting, Tony Gasparovich said Portas had the option to “waive his confidentiality rights and request a public discussion of his employment.” It is possible Portas, who is still under contract, could step in front of board members for the second time this month at Tuesday’s Board of Education meeting and have that public discussion. “I will welcome such a public discussion,” Gasparovich continued.

RELATED: How did Tuesday night's BOE meeting go? Find out here with full recap, including video, as tempers flare between parents, BOE president Gasparovich

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Reasons given by school administration for Portas' dismissal

Portas, still unsure if or when he will get his private meeting with superintendent Murphy to discuss his contract dispute, said he was instructed by Grasso and Dinning on Monday to write a letter offering his rebuttals to the four reasons given for his dismissal.

The reasons:

Not contacting players who quit the team

Not awarding varsity letters to certain players within Ramsey hockey

One altercation with a players' relatives following one game at the Ice Vault

No ice hockey representatives were present at Ramsey's winter sports awards ceremony — the newest reason given

Portas told NJ Advance Media his rebuttals for all four reasons.

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The rebuttals

On not contacting players who quit: "I have documentation that I did call and met with one player and followed up with a phone call and spoke to him and his parents. He came back to practice Thursday, was there for a game on Friday, then quit again without saying a word on Saturday." Portas added he was instructed by Grasso not to contact James Gasparovich when he quit the team in January.

On not awarding varsity letters to certain players: "The JV players were notified they would be JV players at the beginning of the season. Some dressed for maybe 10 games. One of the players who didn't get [a letter] actually spoke in support of me at the board meeting." Also, several parents at the board meeting on May 9 spoke on this topic, requesting a clear-cut expectation on what warrants a varsity letter in future seasons.

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On no players attending Ramsey's winter sports awards ceremony, which Portas did attend: "I didn't send an e-mail about it the year before when we won the state championship and our whole team was there. The school makes announcements. It's on the Board of Ed website. It's everywhere."

On the altercation, which involved one player's father and uncle, Portas' brother and Portas himself: "Jim Grasso was made aware of this issue before the altercation happened." Portas said one player's father, at least twice prior to the incident during earlier parts of the season, verbally attacked him and his coaching staff and the decisions that were being made. On the Friday night of the incident, against Indian Hills on Senior Night (Feb. 3, 2017), during the first intermission, the uncle of the player — believed by Portas to be under the influence of alcohol — went on a profanity-laced tirade directed at Portas. Portas requested to the referee that the uncle be removed from the arena, but to no avail. The game ended, and the player's uncle waited for Portas in the Ice Vault lobby — "staring me down and making gestures toward me," Portas said — before Portas' brother approached the players' uncle. A shouting match eventually ensued, spilling into the street just outside the Ice Vault with the players' uncle, father, Portas and Portas' brother, before it died down after approximately four minutes. Portas did not report the incident to school administration until the following Monday because "it wasn't an issue that involved my players, coaches or anything. It was spectators at a game, which happens all the time."

The issue was resolved that Monday.

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JJ Conrad | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

'The reasons for my non-renewal are unjustifiable'

Portas (pictured above) doesn't believe any of the stated reasons given by school administration warrant a dismissal from his position. Close to a dozen sources with knowledge of the situation tie Portas' non-renewal directly to the power that Tony Gasparovich has in Ramsey.

“I just feel like the reasons for my non-renewal are unjustifiable,” Portas said Monday. “I would say they are unjustifiable reasons, and not the full truth, behind the explanations that I was given for this non-renewal.”

Portas said he felt blindsided by the decision that his contract would not be renewed, partly because he still had approval and was being shown support from several Ramsey administrators even after Ramsey’s disappointing 2016-17 season ended — a season that featured a roster heavy in inexperienced freshmen and sophomores after graduating 14 seniors from their state championship team.

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More support from the boss

Three days following the incident at the Ice Vault, Grasso sent a text message to Portas, obtained by NJ Advance Media, putting the issue to bed, or so Portas thought. It read, “Spoke to Mr. [redacted for privacy]. [Principal] Dr. [Thumm] was with me. We will have no more issues at games this year.”

Portas replied: “Ok. Thank you.”

Grasso added: “Stay positive!!”

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'I appreciate your dedication to the hockey program.'

On March 2, 2017 at 10:04 p.m., Portas received an e-mail from Dinning -- obtained by NJ Advance Media -- following an event held for youth players in town.

In the e-mail. (shown in the slide below), Dinning wrote: “Thank you to you and your team for representing Ramsey Athletics so professionally at the Hockey Association Meeting for younger players tonight. I appreciate your dedication to the hockey program. It was a very informative night.”

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'We're going to have a meeting with Tony...'

Portas continued operating under the assumption he would be back with Ramsey for the 2017-18 season as recently as one week before being informed of his non-renewal in late April by Grasso.

“Just a week before I was speaking to Jim about setting up stuff for the summer programs, where we’d do our conditioning and train and play our summer leagues,” Portas said. “I had seen that James [Gasparovich] was signed up on our spring team and Jim said to me, 'We’re going to have to have a meeting with Tony [Gasparovich] because the word is James is going to come back next year.’ ”

One week later, Portas was informed his contract would not be renewed.

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'I just feel like I haven't done anything wrong here.'

“Jim was like, ‘I think you should resign from your position, that way we can recommend you for other jobs so you won’t be blackballed,’ Portas said of the conversation he had with Grasso pertaining to his contract non-renewal.

“I let him know that I’m not resigning and that’s when he said, ‘Alright then I’m going to have to write up this bad evaluation for you.’ “

Asked if he believed that Tony Gasparovich had influenced Grasso to play that card, Portas paused.

“You can figure that out,” Portas said. “I just know I’ve tried to be as optimistic as I could be about it all. I’ve stood my ground. I’ve stayed quiet. I just feel like I haven’t done anything wrong here.”

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JJ Conrad may be reached at jconrad@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @jj_conrad. Like NJ.com High School Sports on Facebook.