MORE CUB SUSPENSIONS POSSIBLE

By the end of the week, about 30 Franklin Community High School
student-athletes will be suspended from sports for a year for drinking
alcohol and smoking marijuana.

That's the bad news.

The good news is, most, if not all, are expected to have their penalties
dramatically reduced by taking part in drug and alcohol assessment programs.

The condition is one of several students must agree to in order to avoid a
365-day banishment for violating the school's athletic code of conduct.

Franklin principal Leighton Turner said several of the suspended students
have already agreed to comply, and many more are expected to do the same.

As of Tuesday, no students or parents were contesting the suspensions,
which were handed down last week after school officials learned of an
underage drinking party that took place after a recent varsity football game.

Seventeen varsity football players and two cheerleaders have been suspended
so far. And Turner, who last week inadvertently said 18 football players
were suspended, expects the number to approach 30 by the end of the week,
when the final suspensions will be handed down. The figure includes
athletes in sports other than football.

Tuesday was the deadline for students or parents to request a hearings to
appeal a suspension.

"The majority of them are going to follow the drug assessment route and try
to reinstate themselves in the athletic program, and we welcome them back,"
Turner said. "I think they're all going to.

"I'm assuming at this point that no litigation, in terms of following the
next step in the athletic code, is pending at this point."

But the school's investigation isn't finished.

Officials are still trying to determine how many athletes attended the
party, which took place at the home of an unidentified Franklin
student-athlete after a Sept. 2 football game at Shelbyville.

Although police weren't called to the party, school administrators learned
of it a few days later through the student grapevine. Following their own
investigation and confident the information was valid, officials handed
down the suspensions Sept. 9.

Initially, only a few athletes admitted their involvement. But as of
Tuesday, several more student-athletes admitted drinking at the party, and
a number that had at first denied doing so acknowledged they had.

Turner regards the turn of events as a positive step forward.

"Some who originally denied drinking have now come forward and admitted
their guilt," he said. "And at this particular point, the majority of
people who were suspended are opting for the drug assessment."

Turner acknowledged that some parents of suspended athletes were initially
angered by the severity of the punishment. But by Monday, protests were
nearly nonexistent.

"It has pretty well died down with people calling in and telling me what a
terrible decision it was and how unfair it was," Turner said. "Now they're
scrambling to find out where they need to go to get the drug assessments."

By agreeing to drug and alcohol assessments, athletes can, in conjunction
with other conditions, have their suspensions reduced form 365 days to 25
percent of their regular season.

Football players, for example, would have to sit out two of the remaining
regular-season games, retroactive to Sept. 9.

In addition to drug and alcohol assessments, suspended athletes must agree
to abide by the findings and comply with random drug testing. Students or
their families are responsible for all testing and assessment expenses.

The goal, Turner said, isn't to punish students harshly. Rather, it's to
identify problems, correct them before they manifest and help kids learn
from mistakes that could have tragic consequences.

"This is an embarrassing moment for parents," Turner said. "None of us
wants to admit that our kids made a mistake. There are some good kids
involved here, and they're still good kids. I continue to say to parents,
'Beware of overnights.'

"While we all want to believe in our kids and want to believe that we have
raised our kids so that they will make good decisions, this is another
example that we have good kids making bad decisions. And it's because they
need supervision."

More suspensions are expected to be handed down in the next few days. Some
involve athletes whose sports are not in season. Their suspensions will
begin when those seasons begin.

"That's kind of where we are, but we're not done," Turner said. "We have
some athletes who are not in season at this particular point, and they're
going to be dealt with.

"There are going to be 20-plus (total suspensions), but probably not to
exceed 30."

An unknown number of non-student athletes attended the party.

Turner said the school has no authority over them when they leave school
grounds. But athletes must comply with the athletic department's code of
conduct in and out of school.