GILROY
– Controversy, questions and rumors still swirl in the community
after four Gilroy High School student-athletes were reinstated to
the baseball team, despite being kicked off the club last week by
their coach.
GILROY – Controversy, questions and rumors still swirl in the community after four Gilroy High School student-athletes were reinstated to the baseball team, despite being kicked off the club last week by their coach.
GHS Varsity Baseball Coach Clint Wheeler dismissed the students from the team after an incident March 15 that unfolded after hour on school grounds. The players and two female students are reported to have used a duplicate key to gain entry into the dugout and storage area of the baseball field, triggering police response to a breaking-and-entering call.
Officers found marijuana paraphernalia on the students, Wheeler said, but they made no arrests and filed no report. Wheeler’s own investigation the next day revealed that at least one of the students had kept marijuana in a storage area locker.
The veteran coach, known for his straightforward style, dismissed all four players soon after.
“I stand by my first decision,” Wheeler said Monday. “I have nothing personal against them; they’re good kids. The biggest thing is they have to win back the confidence that they lost from their teammates.”
Upon further review by high school administrators and after the coach was confronted by some parents of the dismissed players, one varsity player and the junior varsity player were given three-day suspensions, triggering six weeks of ineligibility for each player. League play began March 12. Baseball season ends May 13, making the players eligible for the last two weeks of the season and any playoff action.
The two other varsity players will serve a two-game suspension and rejoin the team on Thursday, in time for Saturday’s home game against Palma High School.
Principal Bob Bravo said the punishments were based on each student’s level of involvement and is in line with school and district policy.
The matter has some in GHS circles wondering if police and school officials are giving preferential treatment to the baseball players. Others say threats of legal action by parents of the players swayed the school’s decision, a claim Bravo denied.
“No attorney contacted me or anyone in my leadership team,” Bravo said Tuesday. “Our advertised policy is that if a student is caught using or carrying drugs, they are ineligible for six weeks. If they’re caught a second time, the punishment is more harsh, and it would probably lead to expulsion.”
Superintendent Edwin Diaz said he had not been contacted by lawyers, parents or administrators regarding the matter. Police officials also deny being inappropriately lenient.
Capt. Debbie Moore said there is no policy requiring police to arrest someone with drug paraphernalia.
“The officers decided to let the school district handle this as a school issue,” Moore said.
Moore said the police department could not provide the names of the responding officers since there was no report filed.
The school’s decision to allow the players to return differs from a policy Wheeler had been enforcing.
