Durango parents angered

Bob Cloud

Monday, Sept. 9, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

A handful of parents and the Durango High School administration remain at odds over the recent suspension of five students, including four members of the Trailblazers football team.

Durango principal Dr. Allen Coles suspended the four players -- Rock Miller, Chad Ranario, Lance Aja and David Smith -- along with an additional unnamed student following an Aug. 28 off-campus fight at a nearby apartment complex after school.

According to Ranario's mother, Pat Wright, Miller and the unnamed student got into an altercation during school hours that spilled over after school. Miller and the other three players followed the other student home, where a fight broke out. No arrests were made.

The two combatants, Miller and the other student, were suspended and referred out of Durango to Opportunity School, a nine-week program for students who have been removed from school. The pair may seek reinstatement to Durango following the nine weeks. Ranario and Aja were suspended from school until last Friday, while Smith may return to Durango today.

The players missed both of Durango's first two games, a 42-6 loss at Snow Canyon, Utah, and a 35-14 victory over Basic. Ranario, Aja and Smith are eligible to return to the team this week.

"We as parents are questioning the school's jurisdiction in this case because the incident took place off campus," Wright said. "The boys shook hands and no one was arrested. We want to know what right the school has to step in."

Coles said the school has an obligation to act when an incident takes place directly across the street and immediately after school hours.

"There is a school regulation which states it is the school's duty to ensure safe passage for students to and from school," he said. "We don't turn our heads on something which happened literally right across the street. We have an obligation to get involved -- we should get involved."

Wright says Nevada statute does not allow students to be taken to task for off-campus incidents without a court finding of guilt. "In my estimation, you're innocent until proven guilty," she said. "I don't see how my son can be suspended when there was no arrest and no police report."

However, Coles said updated state law does allow schools to discipline students in select instances for actions away from school.

"We are allowed to take action in certain off-campus cases," he said. "Obviously, it's a judgment call. If it would have happened hours after school or far away from school, that would have been a different case. The principal has a duty to protect students."

Coles said police involvement is not a requirement when it comes to school disciplinary matters.

Wright said she believes Coles intentionally singled out members of the football team, a charge both the principal and Durango athletic administrator Larry McKay strongly deny.

"(Coles) accused the football team of being a gang," she said. "He really has a bad-ass attitude towards the football team."

Said Coles: "I'm not going to even get into that. I think we have a very good record of supporting athletics here at Durango. I'm not going to even dignify that lie with a response."

Added McKay: "It is really a non-athletic issue. Once they became suspended from school, they became ineligible to play. It was a school discipline problem. It was (the principal's) decision and we stand by it."

Wright plans to take her case to the Clark County School Board, which meets Tuesday night. She said she and the other parents are also contemplating legal action.