Schools tighten access to students

By April Taylor, Record Editor
Published: October 2, 2008

School officials are tightening supervision of students in locker rooms and elsewhere on school property, following a recent incident of hazing at the high school, along with reports of a local parent engaged in inappropriate - possibly criminal - conduct with an unknown number of varsity football players.
“This affects the whole umbrella of any school activity, whether athletic or non-athletic,“ said Deborah Brown, Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources for local schools.
“Students are not left unsupervised in the locker rooms,“ said Brown. Plus, she added, “As an additional safety measure, we’ll continue to limit access to our students on and off the field in order to keep our kids from being in harm’s way.“
In the meantime, the Greene County Sheriff’s Office continues its investigation into whether the alleged conduct of the parent is indeed unlawful.
At press time on Tuesday evening, no arrests had been made, and authorities declined to comment on the ongoing case.
The hazing incident—which occurred in August in a locker room during practice before the school year began—was first reported by a mother to Dave Jeck, Superintendent of Schools, on September 15, said Brown.
Two varsity football players were involved in the hazing of teammates, officials say.
The perpetrators involved were “each disciplined in accordance to the high school code of conduct and disciplinary procedures,“ remarked Brown.
She declined to give further details. 
In response to the hazing report, football coach Tom Hoffman met with football players on Wednesday, September 17, to review rules of character and conduct. As a result of that meeting, three football players told Hoffman of “inappropriate conduct” by the parent, said Brown. Hoffman then reported it to his immediate supervisor, Activities Director Katie Brunelle, who then reported to WMHS Principal Mike Jamerson. He reported it to Jeck.
Brunelle met with players and later sent out letters to parents. Brown and WMHS Assistant Principal Seth Muraskin also met with the football players to investigate the matter.
Brown declined to give further details on the conversation in order to “protect minors” and declined to confirm whether the “inappropriate conduct” included sexual acts with the underage students.
School officials turned the matter over to the police on September 19.
“After discussions with several student athletes - all minors - there was consistency with the information shared. It was determined that it was a matter that needed to be handled by the Sheriff’s Department,“ said Brown.
  Brown added: “We are not sure of the magnitude of the incident,“ meaning, among other things, over what span of time the conduct has occurred and whether it’s limited to current students or also students who have already graduated from the high school.
Jeck sent out an instant message alert to school staff and parents dated Thursday, September 25.
In the instant alert, Jeck stated:  “We have taken additional action to prohibit the parent from having access to school property and school sponsored activities.“
As for the hazing incident, Brown said she concluded her investigation on September 23. 
Hazing falls under the standards of student conduct, says Brown, which states the following:
“Students shall not engage in hazing. Hazing means to recklessly or intentionally endanger the health or safety of a student or students, or to inflict bodily harm on a student or students in connections with, or for the purpose of initiation , admission into , or affiliation with, or as a condition for continued membership in a club, organization, association, fraternity, sorority or student body, regardless of whether the student or students so endangered or injured participated voluntarily in the relevant activity.“
As a result of the recent incident, Brown says: “We’re probably going to look at a more specific statement in terms of hazing.“ 
Asked whether the two incidents are related in any way, Brown said, “No.“
“The only common ground is that they both have to do with football players.“
The back-to-back reports of misconduct at the high school have left officials, along with many in the community, feeling the blow.
“It’s been a difficult situation,“ said Brown. “In my 29 years (with the school system), it’s been the most difficult situation I’ve had to deal with because of the sensitivity and the age of the children involved.“
Brown added: “We’ve been as proactive in this as much as we possibly could.“
She continued:“ I’m sad for our community for us to have this type of press. The safety of our kids is always our number one concern and we’re going to do what we can to protect them.“