Nine benched Lehigh basketball players reinstated
Ruth Ann Anglickis
Nine basketball players at Lehigh Senior High School who were benched last week as punishment for participating in a video officials say violated the district’s conduct code have been reinstated.
After sitting out two games and also serving a suspension from classes, the players can play in the Region 6A-3 game Thursday at Golden Gate at 7 p.m.
Originally two boys on the team were given a two-day suspension. Then the Lee County School Board saw the video, which showed the two and others rapping explicit lyrics in the school’s practice room after hours.
When Lee County school officials saw the video, the punishment was upgraded to five days of suspension and also included being banned from team activities.
Many parents, while admitting that the video, which made it online, was wrong, said the punishment didn’t match the offense.
By late Thursday afternoon, the school board reversed its decision, allowing the boys involved to play any remaining games.
The punishment also rose the ire of long-time school advocate Ruth A. Anglickis, who is the president and COO of Landex Resorts International Inc. in Lehigh Acres.
In the wake of the original punishment, she said she fired off an email to the Lee County School board voicing hers and others’ concerns.
“I’m sure you have heard from others regarding the decision that was given to – not by Principal Jackie Cory at Lehigh Senior High School. I will appreciate hearing back from you with regard to what was said to her by Dr. Jeff Spiro on behalf of the school board. I would like to know if her job was threatened in any way, which I have cause to believe she was threatened,” Anglickis wrote.
The letter was signed by her boss, Harry C. Powell Jr., one of the founders of Lehigh Acres who is still partially active in business, and by Robyn Rocco, a vice president.
Anglickis said she feels the board threw the principal and the students at LSHS under the bus, along with Coach Dawn McNew.
During the course of the controversy, head basketball coach McNew was temporarily suspended from team duties due to the video. As of last weekend the action against her had not been changed.
McNew “has an impeccable professional career and reputation and is well respected among her peers,” but the suspension was a necessary step given the number of athletes involved and the scope of the student discipline, said district spokeswoman Amity Chandler, who had said earlier that the school principal renders a final decision once the investigation is completed.
Nine benched Lehigh basketball players reinstated
Ruth Ann Anglickis
Nine basketball players at Lehigh Senior High School who were benched last week as punishment for participating in a video officials say violated the district’s conduct code have been reinstated.
After sitting out two games and also serving a suspension from classes, the players can play in the Region 6A-3 game Thursday at Golden Gate at 7 p.m.
Originally two boys on the team were given a two-day suspension. Then the Lee County School Board saw the video, which showed the two and others rapping explicit lyrics in the school’s practice room after hours.
When Lee County school officials saw the video, the punishment was upgraded to five days of suspension and also included being banned from team activities.
Many parents, while admitting that the video, which made it online, was wrong, said the punishment didn’t match the offense.
By late Thursday afternoon, the school board reversed its decision, allowing the boys involved to play any remaining games.
The punishment also rose the ire of long-time school advocate Ruth A. Anglickis, who is the president and COO of Landex Resorts International Inc. in Lehigh Acres.
In the wake of the original punishment, she said she fired off an email to the Lee County School board voicing hers and others’ concerns.
“I’m sure you have heard from others regarding the decision that was given to – not by Principal Jackie Cory at Lehigh Senior High School. I will appreciate hearing back from you with regard to what was said to her by Dr. Jeff Spiro on behalf of the school board. I would like to know if her job was threatened in any way, which I have cause to believe she was threatened,” Anglickis wrote.
The letter was signed by her boss, Harry C. Powell Jr., one of the founders of Lehigh Acres who is still partially active in business, and by Robyn Rocco, a vice president.
Anglickis said she feels the board threw the principal and the students at LSHS under the bus, along with Coach Dawn McNew.
During the course of the controversy, head basketball coach McNew was temporarily suspended from team duties due to the video. As of last weekend the action against her had not been changed.
McNew “has an impeccable professional career and reputation and is well respected among her peers,” but the suspension was a necessary step given the number of athletes involved and the scope of the student discipline, said district spokeswoman Amity Chandler, who had said earlier that the school principal renders a final decision once the investigation is completed.
Nine benched Lehigh basketball players reinstated
Ruth Ann Anglickis
Nine basketball players at Lehigh Senior High School who were benched last week as punishment for participating in a video officials say violated the district’s conduct code have been reinstated.
After sitting out two games and also serving a suspension from classes, the players can play in the Region 6A-3 game Thursday at Golden Gate at 7 p.m.
Originally two boys on the team were given a two-day suspension. Then the Lee County School Board saw the video, which showed the two and others rapping explicit lyrics in the school’s practice room after hours.
When Lee County school officials saw the video, the punishment was upgraded to five days of suspension and also included being banned from team activities.
Many parents, while admitting that the video, which made it online, was wrong, said the punishment didn’t match the offense.
By late Thursday afternoon, the school board reversed its decision, allowing the boys involved to play any remaining games.
The punishment also rose the ire of long-time school advocate Ruth A. Anglickis, who is the president and COO of Landex Resorts International Inc. in Lehigh Acres.
In the wake of the original punishment, she said she fired off an email to the Lee County School board voicing hers and others’ concerns.
“I’m sure you have heard from others regarding the decision that was given to – not by Principal Jackie Cory at Lehigh Senior High School. I will appreciate hearing back from you with regard to what was said to her by Dr. Jeff Spiro on behalf of the school board. I would like to know if her job was threatened in any way, which I have cause to believe she was threatened,” Anglickis wrote.
The letter was signed by her boss, Harry C. Powell Jr., one of the founders of Lehigh Acres who is still partially active in business, and by Robyn Rocco, a vice president.
Anglickis said she feels the board threw the principal and the students at LSHS under the bus, along with Coach Dawn McNew.
During the course of the controversy, head basketball coach McNew was temporarily suspended from team duties due to the video. As of last weekend the action against her had not been changed.
McNew “has an impeccable professional career and reputation and is well respected among her peers,” but the suspension was a necessary step given the number of athletes involved and the scope of the student discipline, said district spokeswoman Amity Chandler, who had said earlier that the school principal renders a final decision once the investigation is completed.
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