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Judge won't reinstate wins forfeited by Kathleen High

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By KEITH MORELLI

kmorelli@tampatrib.com

Published: November 5, 2009

BARTOW - A circuit judge on Wednesday threw out a complaint seeking to reinstate forfeited football games at Kathleen High School, saying he didn't think the state acted improperly or that the losing season will economically affect the team's players.

Judge Roger Alcott listened to arguments from Lakeland lawyer Joseph Brown, who represents the Kathleen Touchdown Club, from parents of some of the football players and from Leonard Ireland, attorney for the Florida High School Athletic Association.
Alcott granted Ireland's motion to dismiss the complaint that would have overturned the state's forfeiture ruling.

Brown wanted a ruling this week because Kathleen plays Lake Gibson on Friday night for what would have been the district championship. Kathleen High School had an 8-0 record before the state ordered the school to forfeit six of its games.

The game will go on, but the stakes have changed.

The court action stemmed from a single player - not even a starter on the Kathleen squad - who was academically ineligible to play.

The controversy came to light when coaches and administrators from a rival school inappropriately viewed a Kathleen senior player's grades and then told the Polk County school district, the complaint said.

But the rival school, identified as Bartow High in the complaint, waited two weeks before reporting it, which resulted in Kathleen having to forfeit two more games, knocking the school out of playoff contention.

Masha Paul, president of the Touchdown Club, said after the hearing that he was disappointed but that "the fight will go on."

"We are going to fight the fight," he said. "We are going to go all the way with this." He didn't say specifically what the next step would be.
Guidance counselors across Polk County have access to grades of all students, and the nine-page complaint filed Tuesday said administrators and guidance counselors at Bartow High accessed grades of all the Kathleen football players to see whether any were ineligible. Accessing student records to look for ineligible players on athletic teams is improper, the complaint said.

School district officials said this week that an internal investigation is under way into the allegation of improper accessing of grades. Officials would not discuss the matter.

Bartow High Principal Ron Pritchard has declined to comment until after that probe is completed.

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