06/23/22 – Board of Control Approves Agreed Order Involving Bowling Green High School

June 23, 2022 2021-2022 News Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: JUNE 23, 2022

Compiler’s Note: The agreed order was amended at the June 23 Board of Control  meeting and required approval and signatures following; The final document is located on the KHSAA website at https://khsaa.org/common_documents/handbook/boarddocs/khsaabgfinalagreedasapprovedandsigned.pdf

At a special meeting held at the KHSAA office in Lexington, the KHSAA Board of Control approved an agreed order closing an open matter and investigative review regarding Bowling Green High School. This closes a matter that began with the reporting of alleged violations of KHSAA Bylaw 16 near the end of the 2016-17 basketball season.

As required by the adopted KHSAA Bylaws, the matter was assigned to staff for review, and draft findings were reported to the Commissioner. Due to situations surrounding concurrent litigation involving reported personnel and pandemic-related delays in consideration of potentially related matters, the case was not ripe for final review until the close of the 2020-21 school year.

An initial letter of inquiry was issued to Bowling Green in November 2021 with an option for a member-initiated remedy to be received on or before Dec. 18, 2021. An interim ruling was issued by the Commissioner in January 2022. After this interim ruling, Bowling Green exercised its option under KRS Chapter 13B and the KHSAA due process procedure to appeal the ruling and worked collaboratively with the Association toward an agreed order, including the submission of information not yet previously shared by the school.

The agreed order sets into place unprecedented mandatory enhanced monitoring and reporting requirements for the school during the next three years to ensure transparency and compliance with all association rules. The agreement also calls for the school to assist the Association with the costs of both the investigation and future training. With the mutual acceptance of this order, Bowling Green, as the only aggrieved party as defined within KRS Chapter 13B, has waived any other options for appeal of the matter, and the Association considers this matter closed.

“Bowling Green has been a member of the KHSAA since 1922 and very much values both its membership and its reputation,” said Bowling Green Independent School District Superintendent Gary Fields. “It is vitally important for our student-athletes and our community that we work collaboratively to ensure that any violations, even if inadvertent, do not occur.”

“This matter has been on the minds of many people for a while now, and this agreement shows the collaborative nature of the membership working with the Association to resolve issues,” said Board of Control President Marlon Miller. “I am proud that our Board remained vigilant and complied with the letter of the requirements within KRS Chapter 13B so that the matter could be concluded, as well as any necessary changes made as we move forward.”

“This situation has been challenging from moment one with the reporting of a generic statement made by a student without specifics regarding our rules,” said KHSAA Commissioner Julian Tackett. “We have and will continue to comply with all state regulations, including KRS Chapter 13B, in adjudicating these types of matters. Everyone throughout the process is held to a standard that requires all evidence to be in writing and any testimony subject to cross-examination due to KRS Chapter 13B. For that reason, in this and so many other matters, those that have facts or information have to put their evidence–not opinions, evidence–in writing with a signature and be willing to have it reviewed, verified and cross-examined. That is a challenge for our Association in so many cases but is the standard that we must legally adhere to in our efforts to apply the membership’s wishes, as well as the regulations, as approved by the General Assembly.

“We are appreciative of the efforts in recent months by the Bowling Green Independent Schools and High School to resolve the issue and allow forward movement,” Tackett said. “I am quite certain we will have no issues of compliance with this member school and am also sure we will quickly set about the course of making any changes necessary within our procedures that our Board and staff collaboratively feel are in the best interest of the membership.”

– KHSAA –

About the Kentucky High School Athletic Association
The Kentucky High School Athletic Association was organized in 1917 and is the agency designated by the Kentucky Department of Education to manage high school athletics in the Commonwealth. The Association is a voluntary nonprofit 501(c)3 organization made up of 284 member schools both public and non-public. The KHSAA awards 215 state championships to 51 teams and 164 individuals in 13 sports and 6 sport-activities, funds catastrophic insurance coverage for its more than 106,000 rostered member school student-athletes, provides coaching education and sports safety programs for more than 12,000 coaches, and licenses and facilitates the distribution of training material for over 4,000 contest officials.