Lexington Catholic Football/Baseball to face sanctions.

[ladiesbballcoach]

It is always dangerous to paint all of a particular classification with one sweep of the brush. Most of our public schools do not "cheat" in preparing students for the achievement tests. Most do a commendable job. Unfortunately, some do and some of it has been documented. Actually, we are probably "singing" from the same hymnal.

I agree. Took us awhile to get there but we are.

[letabrotherspeak]

Here is a copy of the Lex. Cath. press release regarding the KHSAA findings. It can be found on their website.

 

 

Lexington, Kentucky - LEXINGTON CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL HAS RECEIVED COMMISSIONER DEVRIES’ RULING ALLEGING VIOLATIONS OF BYLAW 10 FROM INFORMATION THAT THE SCHOOL WILLINGLY PROVIDED TO THE KHSAA. THE SCHOOL’S MISSION STATEMENT REQUIRES LEXINGTON CATHOLIC TO HELP FAMILIES WHO ARE ALREADY ENROLLED IN THE SCHOOL WHO ENCOUNTER SIGNIFICANT PERSONAL DIFFICULTIES. WHILE OUR MISSION HAS EVERYTHING TO DO WITH HELPING OUR LEXINGTON CATHOLIC FAMILIES WHEN THEY ENCOUNTER HARDSHIP SUCH AS LOSS OF JOB, LOSS OF PROPERTY, OR LOSS OF LIFE, IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH INFLUENCING STUDENTS TO PLAY ATHLETICS. IN FACT, LEXINGTON CATHOLIC PROVIDES THIS SAME FINANCIAL AID TO FAMILIES OF NON-ATHLETES AS WELL. IN ALL BUT ONE OF THE CITED VIOLATIONS, THE AWARD OF FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE MID YEAR WAS DONE ANONYMOUSLY. IN THE REMAINING CASE, ALTHOUGH NOT DONE ANONYMOUSLY, LEXINGTON CATHOLIC MADE THE AWARD IN ACCORDANCE WITH ITS MISSION AND NOT TO RECRUIT OR MAINTAIN A STUDENT ATHLETE IN THE SCHOOL. IF THOSE ACTIONS CONFLICTED WITH A PROVISION OF THE KHSAA, IT WAS INADVERTENT AND THE SCHOOL APOLOGIZES FOR IT. NEVERTHELESS, LEXINGTON CATHOLIC TAKES COMMISSIONER DEVRIES’ RULING VERY SERIOUSLY AND HAS ALREADY IMPLEMENTED PROCEDURES AT THE SCHOOL TO ASSURE STRICT COMPLIANCE WITH THE BYLAWS OF THE KHSAA.

 

 

Pure bunk.

They got caught redhanded.

Nothing of outside influence was involved it was all inside.

Hence no appeal...no way they would win.

[Thunderstruck]

My one question to all people defending Lex. Cath. is this. If it has nothing to do with kids playing sports then why is the KHSAA putting restrictions on football and baseball next year. Why not put restrictions on the academic team if its not got anything to do with sports. It must be with sports or they would not say football and baseball.

 

 

EXCELLANT QUESTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[strike-3]

This is an overly simplistic viewpoint. Unless you're a hermit who has absolutely no interaction with the rest of society, you DO benefit from public education. From the food you eat, to the roads you drive on, to the house you live in, it's all been designed, produced, or transported substantially by products of the public school system. If there were no public education (free to all who attend, funded by taxes) what kind of standard of living would we have in this country? Whatever your source of employment/income is, I'm sure if you broke it down far enough you would be able to trace your own livelihood to economic transactions with countless people who were educated by the public school system. If public primary and secondary education did not exist and every student was left to obtain an education via the free market (or not, if their family could not afford it) what type of society would we have and how would you earn your living?

 

This is one of the more intelligent post that I have ever read on BGP. :thumb:

[pancho]

Pure bunk.

They got caught redhanded.

Nothing of outside influence was involved it was all inside.

Hence no appeal...no way they would win.

 

Now, now LaBS ... do you really know this or is this simply your opinion?

 

Take a deep breath ... I think we're all losing some perspective here.

 

Here's what I know.

 

Shocking as it might be, LexCath is not a sports academy. The AD and the coaches do not run the school (far from it!) and only a minority of the students (what's that word?) enrolled in the school actually play a sport sanctioned by the KHSAA. The administration doesn't generally consult the coaches when it takes various actions and it's too bad in this case because I am absolutely sure that the coaches would have recognized the problem with the situation and put a stop to it. It might be very hard for you to believe but that's the kind of people they are. It's not really in their interest to break the rules! Everything that Mrs. Stevens stated sounds perfectly reasonable to me. She's an extremely good person and she works hard for the students.

 

I put four kids through LexCath and trust me, if I thought that there were kids getting free tuition simply for playing sports I would be mad as hell and there are thousands of parents who feel the same way I do about this. I'd say this especially goes for those parents whose kids do play sports because if the school was paying athletes to play, it is a poor use of our hard-earned $$$ and on top of that, it takes playing spots away from our own kids. But that's not what the school is about.

 

Do I have a problem with students getting need-based financial aid? No, not in the least. In fact, one year, we even qualified! I remember the days when Catholic Schools were populated by working class kids and I have no interest in Catholic Schools becoming places for rich people to send their kids just so they don't have to go to school with the common folk. There are other schools for that ... some of them are public!

 

This whole LexCath sanction thing is a big topic of discussion only because so many people want to believe the worst about the people at LexCath. They also want to find some way to explain their own lack of success (however you define it) without having to own up to the fact that they could have worked harder.

 

Could that be it?

[letabrotherspeak]

I think I have a pretty good handle on what transpired.

I dont see how it could have been an inadvertant mistake.

A little research and background check would have certainly raised flags.

Obviously what went down didn't meet the criteria that is generally held for all students to receive what was given.

 

The school has essentially admitted to violating Bylaw 10, because they will not appeal it. Bylaw 10 deals with recruitment. Pretty much Bylaw 10, Section 2-C was violated.

 

Now the humorous thing about all of this is that people think this was some sort of witch hunt by the KHSAA, coming off of the porposals and so forth, when the delegates met a month or so ago.

This has been an ongoing investigation and is not something that has just popped up.

 

From what I understand this was not a self-reported deal, this was a deal where someone turned them in.

[letabrotherspeak]

This whole LexCath sanction thing is a big topic of discussion only because so many people want to believe the worst about the people at LexCath. They also want to find some way to explain their own lack of success (however you define it) without having to own up to the fact that they could have worked harder.

 

Could that be it?

 

Honestly, I think in general a large percentage of private schools(notice, not singling out catholic schools) do try to do what is best for their schools and carry out their mission statement. They should be applauded for offering up a faith-based education to fit the desiresof those that feel the need to send their children there. I have no qualms with that.

I think too often the public schools are stereotyped. I think by in large many have misconceptions about what private schools do and what both offer. It is the parents choice.

 

However, I will not buy into the theory that is thrown out there that schools need to work harder.

 

What is becoming more prominent and the sad fact it is now reaching into the middle school levels...recruitment that is. Starting as early as the 5th grade in some areas. Much of this is being done through parent networking.

For example, one parent group has given charges to various people and have produced pamphlets in which certain people are told to "mine a "X" county for prospects". It is written right there, on a pamphlet. This certain county is very near to Jefferson County.

It is obvious, that the Louisville private schools identify the best athletes in middle school as early as the 5th and 6th grades and then implement an organized recruitment process to persuade these selected athletes to attend their schools. This recruitment consists of handing out business cards, having current private school student-athletes e-mail them, invites to open house and shadowing, phone calls, and offers of financial aid. It is alarming to me and damaging to athletic programs, both private and public to see this sort of solicitation. And much of it has grown out of "Parent-networking".

 

It is very tough for a public school to stay within their boundries and even state lines in some areas, and fend off these coordinated intrusions.

[scooterbob]

Pancho is not politically correct but he is, nonetheless, correct. Letabrotherspeak gives the impression that only private schools "court" pre-ninth graders. That, of course, is far from the truth and Letabrotherspeak loses credibility by not pointing that out. Surely, he knows better.

Need some examples? Raceland will start either one or two former Rose Hill students. Fairview will start at least one. Russell will feature two. Ashland will start three. On the out of state scene, Huntington High will start two and, of course we all know about the two at NCHHS. The point is not to complain. The point is to illustrate that those who put the blame on the private schools and paint the public schools as being virtuous are being less than honest. Let's just admit that both "court" openly and accept that this is part of the process because, in reality, actions may be "amended" but they won't materially change.

[letabrotherspeak]

In addition you may add open enrollment districts as well. However, it is much mor complicated for those pub schools within defined boundries.

Not to many pub schools get to pull from 50+ feeder schools.

 

The only evidence that I have physically seen has come from a private school in Jefferson County.

 

Out of state prop may stick...we shall soon see.

[TonyDanza]

What is becoming more prominent and the sad fact it is now reaching into the middle school levels...recruitment that is. Starting as early as the 5th grade in some areas. Much of this is being done through parent networking.

For example, one parent group has given charges to various people and have produced pamphlets in which certain people are told to "mine a "X" county for prospects". It is written right there, on a pamphlet. This certain county is very near to Jefferson County.

It is obvious, that the Louisville private schools identify the best athletes in middle school as early as the 5th and 6th grades and then implement an organized recruitment process to persuade these selected athletes to attend their schools. This recruitment consists of handing out business cards, having current private school student-athletes e-mail them, invites to open house and shadowing, phone calls, and offers of financial aid. It is alarming to me and damaging to athletic programs, both private and public to see this sort of solicitation. And much of it has grown out of "Parent-networking".

 

 

I am a very well connected parent from Louisville within the Catholic School system. I have NEVER been asked to do this by any school....

:confused: :confused: :confused:

[rockmom]

Great, when will the private schools start publishing their test scores?

 

 

 

If you want to see Trinity's test scores, at least PSAT, SAT and ACT, just go to their website.

[pancho]

However, I will not buy into the theory that is thrown out there that schools need to work harder.

I don't know what you want to call it but there are things that a school (administrators, teachers, parents, students, school board members, and other individuals associated with the school) can do to help accomplish any goal they want. The goal could be just about anything that you can think of ... it might be to improve students' test scores, to foster a better social conscience in its students, to create a winning football program, or for many private schools, simply to stay afloat financially. The things that those people do is what I'm calling "work".

 

You are correct if you're saying that sometimes hard work doesn't seem to pay off. When it doesn't, it's often because the school (all those aforementioned people) is not really in agreement on the particular goal or not all working together on it. When you see a successful *anything*, there's usually a lot more hard work that's going into it than most people would like to admit. It's so much easier to look at the more successful entity and assume that they cheated.

 

You know that I'm not in favor of breaking the rules. I believe that you need to know them, play by them, and accept the penalty when you don't.

 

You might also have guessed by now that I am also not in favor of changing the rules to further handicap schools that have worked hard for their success.

 

... Much of this is being done through parent networking. For example, one parent group has given charges to various people and have produced pamphlets in which certain people are told to "mine a "X" county for prospects". It is written right there, on a pamphlet. ... This recruitment consists of handing out business cards, having current private school student-athletes e-mail them, invites to open house and shadowing, phone calls, and offers of financial aid. It is alarming to me and damaging to athletic programs, both private and public to see this sort of solicitation. And much of it has grown out of "Parent-networking".

 

It is very tough for a public school to stay within their boundries and even state lines in some areas, and fend off these coordinated intrusions.

I read what you reported but I seriously doubt that there is not some "vast private school conspiracy" to "steal" students that "belong" to someone else.

[pancho]

I read what you reported but I seriously doubt that there is not some "vast private school conspiracy" to "steal" students that "belong" to someone else.

Sorry, I meant to say that I seriously doubt that there is a "vast private school conspiracy" to "steal" students that "belong" to someone else.

 

It's just too difficult to organize such a thing properly.

[BIGZIG]

I admit I'm late to this discussion but does this mean we once again have the possiblity of a TAINTED 3A champion? Provided of course LexCath goes on to win their next 2.. Is a trend starting here and when will the KHSAA strap on a set and start to clean up some of the problems (public and private) that exist thoughout the state..

[pancho]

I admit I'm late to this discussion but does this mean we once again have the possiblity of a TAINTED 3A champion? Provided of course LexCath goes on to win their next 2.. Is a trend starting here and when will the KHSAA strap on a set and start to clean up some of the problems (public and private) that exist thoughout the state..

It's my understanding that the student in question was not enrolled at LexCath this year at all. In that case, you can't say that the playoffs are tainted by this.