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“We take all violations of the Code of Conduct very seriously,” said Oakwood High School Principal Paul Waller in a statement.
“Teenagers sometimes make poor decisions and we are here to hold them accountable and support them,” he said. “We hope they will learn from their mistakes and make better decisions in the future.”
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District spokeswoman Traci Hale said there was “an incident where athletes at a non-school-sponsored event during the summer did violate the code of conduct.”
Five of the students weren’t allowed to play in 10 percent of the season, or two games, while another student was suspended from the team for the remainder of the season, according to the letters.
The students were required to meet with a district intervention/prevention specialist for an assessment and counselling, the letters stated.
Oakwood’s code of conduct for extracurricular activities states that no students shall use, possess, give, sell or otherwise transmit, or be under the influence of a prohibited substance.
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The code defines prohibited substance as “any substance, including alcohol, tobacco, or drugs, if the sale, use, possession or transfer of such substance is prohibited by law or school policy for such student.”
“They were punished based on the penalties in our Athletic Code of Conduct that all athletes sign,” Hale said.
The district redacted the names of the students before providing the letters to the Dayton Daily News. The newspaper obtained the records using Ohio’s public records law.
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On Thursday, Oakwood Middle School and High School conducted a routine drug and explosives sweep. School officials said the sweep was a preventive measure and not a response to any specific issue.
“We have seen the recent local and national news reports highlighting the alarming rise in the use of illegal drugs occurring in every state and every community and hope to do our part to help prevent the impact here in the Oakwood community,” said Superintendent Kyle Ramey in a letter to parents.
Contact this reporter at will.garbe@coxinc.com.
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