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By Judy Masterson / Lake County News-Sun
WAUKEGAN, Ill. (Lake County News-Sun) ― A Waukegan High School pom coach is under fire for posting what some parents consider lewd photos of herself on MySpace.com.

Natosha Shaw, 25, an aspiring dancer and model, was hired last fall to lead Waukegan High School's 28 pom dancers. Team parents and students are hoping to pressure school administrators to fire Shaw before next season. The photos showing Shaw posing in scanty outfits are just one of a barrage of complaints from parents who insist Shaw is inexperienced, incompetent and immature.

Rachel Albarran was critical of the photos and other entries on Shaw's MySpace site, including a photo of a statue of a child apparently copulating with a cat and the comment "I'd hit it like this!"

"They're indecent," Albarran said. "When you're a coach, you become a role model and you're setting an example. She should know the kids are all over the Internet. It's embarrassing."

Albarran also complained that Shaw lacked organizational skills, neglected paperwork, failed to submit a budget, and waited until the last minute to line up everything from costumes to music.

"If the parents had not stepped up, if the girls hadn't created their own routines, the year would have been a disaster," Albarran said.

Shaw, who also works as an executive legislative assistant to state Rep. Eddie Washington, D-Waukegan, and formerly an assistant teacher for Head Start, defended both the photos and her job performance.

"I'm a dancer and a model," she said. "There's no nudity in those photos. It doesn't affect my ability to coach the team. There's a few who are angry about the issue. They were trying to get me out before I came in. They're digging into stuff and turning it negative when it's really not negative at all."

Other parents accuse Shaw of disrespecting and belittling students, playing favorites and using poor judgment. Shuquanda Johnson Webb said Shaw presented her daughter with a plaque on Awards Night that was inscribed "Ghetto Fabulous."

"That's not something we can display," Webb said.

Pom team captain Latisha Woods, a senior, called her last season with the squad "sad."

"I had high expectations," she said. "We lost our coach of the previous two years and they replaced her with someone who didn't know anything. Everything was last-minute. I had to run the squad, including the practices, while she sat in high heels. It was beyond stressful. My mom did all the paperwork. Next year we won't be here to run things."

Sharon Lise, Woods' mother, said the squad nearly missed the opportunity to participate in national competitions in Florida because Shaw failed to do the necessary organizing. She also said Shaw told girls to falsify parents' signatures on medical waiver forms after neglecting to distribute them in a timely manner.

"She canceled a practice before the state competition to go and audition to become one of Beyonce's backup dancers," Lise said.

Shaw, who earned more than $6,000 for coaching the fall and winter pom seasons, called the allegations "nitpicking" and denied that she put her career aspirations over the team.

"It was my first year," she said. "Like anybody in a new job, I went in inexperienced. Now I know what to do and what not to do."

Shaw also argued that she has been a role model, competing in many local beauty pageants as well as Miss Black Chicago 2005, for which she ranked No. 1 in the swimsuit competition.

"If I'm guilty of anything, it's of being successful," she said.

Washington also defends his staffer, who he said is being "crucified for doing nothing illegal" and her photos.

"I thought they were done in good taste," he said. "They were no more revealing or controversial than any other modeling I've seen. It's Natasha's dream to be a dancer, and she should follow her dream."

Parents and school administrators are expected to meet on the issue today.

"A lot of people are wrestling with this," said Waukegan High interim athletic director Mel Washington. "We'll have a meeting and try to work this out."

Albarran said there's only one way to settle the issue.

"We don't want her back," she said.

(CBS 2 and the Lake County News-Sun are news partners covering stories in the north suburbs of Chicago. If you know of stories happening in this region,