Randolph County's superintendent of schools will meet with parents of Elkins High School football players at 6 p.m. today at Wimer Stadium, in response to the football team being stripped of all its wins this season based on having an ineligible player.
"I'm going to meet with them to give them an update on what's happened, and where we're headed," Dr. James Phares said during a phone conversation this afternoon.
The West Virginia Secondary Schools Activities Commission handed down the ruling Wednesday after a complaint was submitted from a neighboring county. The ruling takes the EHS team from a 7-2 record to an 0-9 slate on the season. The student currently is ineligible to play athletics for the rest of the school year.
"At tonight's meeting, there are two things I won't talk about," Phares said. "I will not give details about the student's identity, for legal reasons, and I am not going to talk about who wrote the complaint."
On Wednesday, Gary Ray, the WVSSAC executive director, declined to name the person who submitted the complaint, saying only that it did not come from a school or a school official.
Phares said today he now knows who submitted the complaint, and he finds it "odd" that Ray will not release the name. Phares said the message he takes from that decision is "the person who filed the complaint has more right to privacy than the student."
Contacted this afternoon for a response, Ray told The Inter-Mountain, "I haven't released the student's name, either. I'm not sure at this point in time what purpose that would serve to put (the name of the person who submitted the complaint) out there."
Phares said the WVSSAC decision has received "mixed reviews" around the state.
"There's a lot of people throughout the state that are horrified by this decision," Phares said this afternoon. "I've had calls from coaches throughout the state, attorneys and also concerned citizens."
