LVHS tried to skirt eligibility rules

Spencer Patterson

Thursday, Oct. 29, 1998 | 11:18 a.m.

The Clark County School District said Thursday it will conduct an investigation into the chain of events that resulted in Las Vegas High School's banishment from the Southern Zone football playoffs for using an ineligible player.

Assistant Superintendent Len Paul said the district is investigating whether the a Las Vegas High student's teacher, LVHS administrators or a combination of the two did not disclose the athlete was failing, triggering a chain of events that resulted in tonight's four first-round playoff games being postponed until Monday.

"That's the investigation part that we don't know yet," Paul said.

As school ended at Las Vegas High on Wednesday, football players poured out of classrooms with smiles on their faces and visions of their upcoming first-round playoff game on their minds.

Ten minutes later, they sat stunned and teary-eyed, as principal Barry Gunderson, athletic administrator Joe Gallia and head coach Kris Cinkovich informed them that their postseason had ended before it even began.

The company line was that Las Vegas administrators this week discovered and self-reported an ineligible player, prompting the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association (NIAA) to strip the Wildcats of four victories.

"The principal and I discovered this week that we had a student who was failing, whose teacher did not report them as ineligible," Gallia said, blaming the incident on a teacher's failure to report the failing grade during the district's mandatory three-week grade checks.

But according to several sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity, the school's athletic department became aware of the athlete's failing grade during the season's fourth week, after his teacher turned in the required paperwork.

Rather than place him on immediate academic probation, as district policy mandates, the school transferred the student into another class, sources said.

The student-athlete's new instructor never turned in forms updating the athletic department regarding the athlete's progress, nor did the athletic department ask for such forms -- despite the fact the athlete's grade remained a failing one, sources said.

Instead, the teacher apparently opted to spend extra time working with the student to try to improve his grade. But when quarterly grades were turned in last Friday, the student-athlete in question still had a failing mark.

"I don't think we did anything wrong," Cinkovich said.

"I don't know why we couldn't have been put on probation or gotten a warning for our misinterpretation of the rule."

A teacher at another area high school agreed with Cinkovich, explaining he always has worked with student-athletes to improve failing grades before reporting them.

"If a kid is working diligently and making progress to do something about his grade, I won't turn him in," the instructor said. "As long as the kid will try to get his grade up, my understanding was that it's the teacher's choice whether to report him."

But Clark County Athletic Director Larry McKay said there is no room for such interpretation of the rule.

"The rule does not give the teacher the latitude to make that judgment," McKay said. "They are required to turn the kid in if he's failing."

So Las Vegas' place in the playoffs will be taken by Valley.

"It's devastating," Cinkovich said. "If you go out on the field and you come up short, you can deal with that. But to not even be able to go out on the field is devastating."

"It's not fair," Wildcat team captain Phillip Mullins said. "You can't play your heart out for nine games and not be given the chance to lose out there."

Las Vegas finished the season with a 6-3 overall record this season and captured the Sunrise Division's third seed with a 5-2 conference mark. The Wildcats were slated to play at Cimarron-Memorial tonight in the first round of the playoffs.

Now, the team winds up tied for last place in the division with a 1-6 league record, forfeiting victories over Rancho, Silverado, Basic and Chaparral. The only other game in which the ineligible athlete participated with a failing grade -- a loss to Eldorado -- remains a defeat.

"We've worked hard to make the football team a source of pride for the school," Cinkovich said. "This isn't fair to anybody."

This incident is the third of its kind in October at an area high school. Earlier this month, Bishop Gorman and Rancho forfeited soccer victories, also for using academically ineligible players.