Four East Haven football players and two cheerleaders were sidelined for the Yellow jacket's season opener on Thursday have outraged parents, now they and the football coach want the school to change its policy, retroactively.
The six were kicked off their teams after the school learned they were at a party where 23 underage students got arrested for possession of alcohol. Outraged parents and students took their concerns to the superintendent and the Board of Education during a meeting on Tuesday and said the school's policy was unfair and only selectively enforced..
"If we take this away from these kids, we've taken away everything they've done since they were 6 years old,” said Coree Limoncelli, whose son was suspended from the team. “Let the second offense be dismissal."
East Haven School Superintendent Anthony Serio said he stands by the decision and doesn't think the punishment is too harsh.
"Many athletes have lived by this rule for many, many years. We've never had a situation of this magnitude," Serio said.
One parent said he’s taking the case to court.
"Per their rules, number one it says any child that's guilty of possession of alcohol or drugs is immediately suspended. I said, 'Isn't this America, where we're entitled to due process?' Where she's innocent ’til proven guilty?' We have a lawyer, we're going to court, where we're going to argue she wasn't in possession of alcohol or drugs," said Jonathan Allen, whose daughter was kicked off the cheerleading team.
Local
Because of this situation, many parents and even the football coach are demanding the Board of Ed review the policy and change it retroactively.
"If it was written wrong, fix it. If it needs to be fixed, then fix it right now," football coach Greg Volpe said. "It's more than a team, we're like family, and to lose four players, it's like losing four family members," said Taivarr Pierce, an East Haven High School football player.
"If any policy is made, it needs to be realistic. It needs to allow school administrators to consider all the facts on a case-by-case basis. There should also be progressive discipline," said Terry Kasperzyk, whose son was one of the football players involved.
Serio and the Board of Ed will be looking at the school's policy to see if it needs to be changed. If there are changes, they would most likely affect future cases, not the athletes already involved.
