Miami Northwestern Should Forfeit Title

S

SLCDad

Active member
Miami Northwestern should forfeit their Florida 6A Title and every game after Sept 16, 2006.


http://www.miamiherald.com/548/story/131280.html


MIAMI NORTHWESTERN HIGH SCHOOL
Ex-principal indicted in sex coverup case

A grand jury issued a scathing report on the sex scandal at Miami Northwestern Senior High and indicted the school's former principal on charges of covering up the case.

BY DAVID OVALLE AND TANIA deLUZURIAGA
dovalle@MiamiHerald.com

Miami Northwestern Senior High's former principal was indicted Wednesday, charged with covering for a star football player accused of seducing an underage classmate, as a grand jury issued a sweeping report chronicling breakdowns in policy, priorities and a police investigation.

''The road to glory was paved for all . . . all except that little girl who was viewed as little more than a bump in the road to the school's state football championship,'' the report said.

Dwight Bernard, grinning in a sport coat and sunglasses, walked into the Miami-Dade state attorney's office Wednesday morning with his attorney, who called him a ``convenient scapegoat.'' He left in handcuffs, booked into Miami-Dade County jail on two third-degree felony counts of official misconduct.

The scathing grand jury report went far beyond the principal:

• Before police learned of the allegations on Dec. 5, 2006, at least 17 school employees knew Antwain Easterling, then 18, had sex with a 14-year-old band member in a campus bathroom on Sept. 16. Only Bernard faces criminal charges, but others could be admonished by the state's Education Department.

• Bernard and district administrators ignored Miami-Dade School Board policy that mandated Easterling be suspended for at least 10 days. Instead, he was allowed to play in the state title game, which Northwestern won, three days after his arrest. Easterling was never disciplined by the school.

The message sent, the grand jury said: ``If your athletic ability is stellar, we will bend the rules for you.''

• The school district meddled in the school's police investigation of the coverup, ordering the probe shut down even though 'everyone knew that `failure to report' was a crime.''

• Miami-Dade school district leaders retaliated against Detective Nicky Echezabal, who uncovered the breakdowns at Northwestern and penned a chronicle of her investigation. When she shared it with Miami detectives, she was demoted and denied a promotion.

The grand jury also issued nonbinding recommendations, including ensuring the district does not interfere in police investigations, ending a policy that ties principals' bonuses to a reduction in suspensions and ensuring that all schools employees know when to report allegations to authorities.

`BEYOND DISTURBING'

''Obviously, there are things in this report that are beyond being disturbing,'' Miami-Dade Superintendent Rudy Crew said. ``There are things that are reflected in this report that are very serious -- at the level of my own staff and in the culture of a school in dire need of improvement.''
 
 
SLCDad said:
Miami Northwestern should forfeit their Florida 6A Title and every game after Sept 16, 2006.


http://www.miamiherald.com/548/story/131280.html


MIAMI NORTHWESTERN HIGH SCHOOL
Ex-principal indicted in sex coverup case

A grand jury issued a scathing report on the sex scandal at Miami Northwestern Senior High and indicted the school's former principal on charges of covering up the case.

BY DAVID OVALLE AND TANIA deLUZURIAGA
dovalle@MiamiHerald.com

Miami Northwestern Senior High's former principal was indicted Wednesday, charged with covering for a star football player accused of seducing an underage classmate, as a grand jury issued a sweeping report chronicling breakdowns in policy, priorities and a police investigation.

''The road to glory was paved for all . . . all except that little girl who was viewed as little more than a bump in the road to the school's state football championship,'' the report said.

Dwight Bernard, grinning in a sport coat and sunglasses, walked into the Miami-Dade state attorney's office Wednesday morning with his attorney, who called him a ``convenient scapegoat.'' He left in handcuffs, booked into Miami-Dade County jail on two third-degree felony counts of official misconduct.

The scathing grand jury report went far beyond the principal:

• Before police learned of the allegations on Dec. 5, 2006, at least 17 school employees knew Antwain Easterling, then 18, had sex with a 14-year-old band member in a campus bathroom on Sept. 16. Only Bernard faces criminal charges, but others could be admonished by the state's Education Department.

• Bernard and district administrators ignored Miami-Dade School Board policy that mandated Easterling be suspended for at least 10 days. Instead, he was allowed to play in the state title game, which Northwestern won, three days after his arrest. Easterling was never disciplined by the school.

The message sent, the grand jury said: ``If your athletic ability is stellar, we will bend the rules for you.''

• The school district meddled in the school's police investigation of the coverup, ordering the probe shut down even though 'everyone knew that `failure to report' was a crime.''

• Miami-Dade school district leaders retaliated against Detective Nicky Echezabal, who uncovered the breakdowns at Northwestern and penned a chronicle of her investigation. When she shared it with Miami detectives, she was demoted and denied a promotion.

The grand jury also issued nonbinding recommendations, including ensuring the district does not interfere in police investigations, ending a policy that ties principals' bonuses to a reduction in suspensions and ensuring that all schools employees know when to report allegations to authorities.

`BEYOND DISTURBING'

''Obviously, there are things in this report that are beyond being disturbing,'' Miami-Dade Superintendent Rudy Crew said. ``There are things that are reflected in this report that are very serious -- at the level of my own staff and in the culture of a school in dire need of improvement.''
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Fhsaa can not do anything about it. At that point in time no felony had been convicted. But you know what. Thats what happens when people jump to answers and believe things they dont have the first fact about. Happened with duke,happened with lakeland high school, and many more around the country. If the Fhsaa had not been dumpfounded and not have been tring to lay down the big stick on another player in the state. Then maybe this would have been a bigger story. Becasue right now it still is not even at the level of the lakeland player's story who was proven to have not done anythings wrong. When that same week this player was arrested and the facts were there to charge him. Life aint far. How does that saying go. You cant have you cake and eat it two. Well that applies here more then any saying in the world.
 
naughty said:
If the Fhsaa had not been dumpfounded and not have been tring to lay down the big stick on another player in the state. Then maybe this would have been a bigger story. Becasue right now it still is not even at the level of the lakeland player's story who was proven to have not done anythings wrong.
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How was it proven that Chris Rainey had done nothing wrong?

As I understand it, that's not what happened. Having no evidence to prove that Rainey accepted the gifts is quite different than saying it was proven he did nothing wrong.

I believe he was telling the truth the first time and had accepted the gifts but that after the fact they couldn't prove it.

No Lakeland fan would admit giving free stuff to Rainey. Surprise, Surprise. That's what we would expect.

Is there more to this story that I don't know about?
 
SLCDad said:
How was it proven that Chris Rainey had done nothing wrong?

As I understand it, that's not what happened. Having no evidence to prove that Rainey accepted the gifts is quite different than saying it was proven he did nothing wrong.

I believe he was telling the truth the first time and had accepted the gifts but that after the fact they couldn't prove it.

No Lakeland fan would admit giving free stuff to Rainey. Surprise, Surprise. That's what we would expect.

Is there more to this story that I don't know about?
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Basically everyone, Rainey/the store owners/his friends took back everything they said. I looked through all the info and statements awhile back, and it was pretty sickening. CYA of the highest order.

I don't think what he did was particularly bad, but do believe that it should have made him ineligible and Lakeland should not have won the title.

As far as this mess, I am in opposite boat I think. While Easterling and crew perpetrated much more serious offenses, it does not appear to me(that I have seen yet) that they would have been inelgible under the FHSSA rules.
 
pied said:
As far as this mess, I am in opposite boat I think. While Easterling and crew perpetrated much more serious offenses, it does not appear to me(that I have seen yet) that they would have been inelgible under the FHSSA rules.
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Your statement is probably technically correct. However, since 17 school employees knew the truth (meaning EVERYBODY knew), they should have removed Easterling from the team. What does that say about the integrity of the team, the coach, and the administration? Now that the world knows the truth and the principal is facing two felony indictments, how can MNW keep the state title trophy in good faith? I don't see it.

I compare the MNW mess to what happened at Haltom two years ago. Jeremy Brent was an all-state WR. He was a major D1 prospect and the best player on the Haltom team. He had a long term relationship with his 15 year old girl friend who was also a student at Haltom. The girl's mom went to the police when she found out they had sex. Brent was removed from the team immediately.

No doubt officials at MNW knew about what happened for weeks (probably two months) before the police got involved. Then they hindered the police investigation.

How can the school keep the trophy? They should give it back even though technically they aren't forced to do so.
 
If MNW had the slightest idea of how to act in good faith, they wouldn't be in this mess in the first place.

No way they send the trophy back.

And even if they did, you can't replay the playoffs without them, unfortunately.

It's not an FHSAA issue, as far as I can see, unless there is a rule that would have made the kid ineligible.

And the issue seems to go far, far beyond who the best 6A football team in Florida was.
 
Here is my take on the Easterling situation. First the alledged crime should not cause MNW to forfeit their title. While the FHSAA may not had a rule covering the situation, I suspect the local school board did have a rule about sex on campus. I suspect the punishment under board policy probably includes suspension from the school and reduction of privileges (extracurricular activities are a privilege in my local districts). The disturbing part is "at least 17 school employees knew" about the event. I would be shocked if the the football coaches were not among the 17 school employees. While the coaches may be great at "X's" and "O"s" of football, they seem to be lacking in character building. The issue to me is not whether the players of MNW should be stripped of a title, but should the coaching staff be removed.

This very issue occurred at the school I follow. A 17 year old star football player was alleged to have had sex with an under aged student at a Post Prom party. The kid was a junior at the time and was committed to Texas. By Board Policy any student "charged" with a "sex crime" is removed from the general student population. The young man missed his senior year of high school and eventually lost his scholarship to Texas. (Note: After missing two years of competitive football, the player was offered a scholarship to Oklahoma St and started as a freshman). To date his case has not been tried in court, only on messageboards.
 
You gotta be kidding

Is there any way that they can move the game against SLC to La. and keep this trash from Florida out of Texas. I sure hope so. Play it in Shreveport and they can all go to the boats afterwards and party and there are plenty of pizza shops in Bosier City. This just cements the video we saw that all the Fla. people said was years ago and they had good kids now. I hope the kids from Carroll whip the everlasting tar out of this team and they will.
Ps: Great detective work SLC Dad. Its people like you that keep us safe. But we do have carry and conceal down here so we should be alright.
 
WoodyHayes said:
Is there any way that they can move the game against SLC to La. and keep this trash from Florida out of Texas. I sure hope so. Play it in Shreveport and they can all go to the boats afterwards and party and there are plenty of pizza shops in Bosier City. This just cements the video we saw that all the Fla. people said was years ago and they had good kids now. I hope the kids from Carroll whip the everlasting tar out of this team and they will.
Ps: Great detective work SLC Dad. Its people like you that keep us safe. But we do have carry and conceal down here so we should be alright.
Click to expand...

Detective work? All he did was take the article straight from the 5A Texas board. And the thread that highlighted this article was shut down almost immediately by the moderators due to the fact that it only served to instigate and has nothing to do with anything pertinent to anything at all.

As for you Texans being so safe, pick up a copy of the FBI's UCR sometime. Dallas has the highest violent crime and overall crime rates of the ten largest cities in America over the past nine years. But yes, let's persecute a team who last year had a player on it that allegedly engaged in a lascivious act. Seems like you guys should have bigger fish to fry...
 
WoodyHayes said:
Is there any way that they can move the game against SLC to La. and keep this trash from Florida out of Texas. I sure hope so. Play it in Shreveport and they can all go to the boats afterwards and party and there are plenty of pizza shops in Bosier City. This just cements the video we saw that all the Fla. people said was years ago and they had good kids now. I hope the kids from Carroll whip the everlasting tar out of this team and they will.
Ps: Great detective work SLC Dad. Its people like you that keep us safe. But we do have carry and conceal down here so we should be alright.
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You are sick you know that. Talking about 15-18 year old kids like that. You are sick and need to think about what you say before it is said. And like posted above. We are not bring trash to texas, we are bringing the clean up crew to clean up the trash of a city that is called dallas. You know where i got that SLCDAD off of Freeman ratings.
 
Be specific

naughty said:
You are sick you know that. Talking about 15-18 year old kids like that. You are sick and need to think about what you say before it is said. And like posted above. We are not bring trash to texas, we are bringing the clean up crew to clean up the trash of a city that is called dallas. You know where i got that SLCDAD off of Freeman ratings.
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What offended you or should I say, hit a nerve. Telling the coaches to go to the boat? Kids can have pizza? Or was it the "trash" part? There is a difference between 15 - 18 year old kids and teenage felons or the types that have sex with 14 year old girls in the bathroom. Tell me what or who is sick here. But take away all that other stuff and SLC is going to wipe the floor wit yo homies from Miami.
 
letharion said:
Detective work? All he did was take the article straight from the 5A Texas board. And the thread that highlighted this article was shut down almost immediately by the moderators due to the fact that it only served to instigate and has nothing to do with anything pertinent to anything at all.

As for you Texans being so safe, pick up a copy of the FBI's UCR sometime. Dallas has the highest violent crime and overall crime rates of the ten largest cities in America over the past nine years. But yes, let's persecute a team who last year had a player on it that allegedly engaged in a lascivious act. Seems like you guys should have bigger fish to fry...
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You are wrong. I found the article. (Not that it's great dectective work.) I never saw the thread on the Texas board. In fact I started a second thread with the same article. The administrators deleted both threads (my thread after 3-4 posts) because they didn't want it to get ugly. (Would you like a copy of the private message the KTs sent me? They were very nice about it.)
 
SLCDad said:
You are wrong. I found the article. (Not that it's great dectective work.) I never saw the thread on the Texas board. In fact I started a second thread with the same article. The administrators deleted both threads (my thread after 3-4 posts) because they didn't want it to get ugly. (Would you like a copy of the private message the KTs sent me? They were very nice about it.)
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I don't think you helped yourself there. All I got from this is that you were not sharp enough to realize that you would be the second clown who felt it necessary to drag some impertinent garbage to the forefront. I can do that too: 213 pounds of pot. "I want to be the biggest dope guy around" in regards to his post-NFL aspirations. "But they're just dogs" in regards to the the dog-fighting scandal that's rocked the NFL and pro sports. Who said these things? Let's talk scumbags who have no relevance if you insist.

I don't know or care who the KT's are. But maybe if you dedicated half the collective time you spend living vicariously on their internet board through the young men of the SLC football team whose jock sizes you've both individually measured and memorized, to your greater metropolitan area, Dallas wouldn't have such an epidemic of violent crime (many of which are worse than the admittedly terrible crime alleged in this situation).
 
letharion said:
As for you Texans being so safe, pick up a copy of the FBI's UCR sometime. Dallas has the highest violent crime and overall crime rates of the ten largest cities in America over the past nine years. But yes, let's persecute a team who last year had a player on it that allegedly engaged in a lascivious act. Seems like you guys should have bigger fish to fry...
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Well Miami is not a top 10 City in population. Matter of fact neither are
Cleveland or Cinci. From the 2006 Preliminary FBI's UCR report:

City____________Population1___ Violent
crime"
MIAMI-----------392,934------- 5,931--- 1.509%
Miami Gardens---101,115------- 1,868--- 1.847%
ST Louis---------346,879------- 8,605--- 2.481%
Cincinnati--------309,104------- 3,766--- 1.218%
Cleveland -------452,759------- 7,004--- 1.547%
Dallas----------1,248,223------- 15,058-- 1.206%
Houston--------2,073,729------- 24,250-- 1.169%

We all do. Statistically it is safer to live in the two largest cities in Texas than Ohio's two largest cities. We acknowledge we have work to do. Go look at the 2006 crime stats for New Orleans. Wonder where the criminal element went? The southern border allows a criminal element to enter our cities.

The point is this school in Miami had some serious priority issues.
 
letharion said:
I don't know or care who the KT's are. But maybe if you dedicated half the collective time you spend living vicariously on their internet board through the young men of the SLC football team whose jock sizes you've both individually measured and memorized, to your greater metropolitan area, Dallas wouldn't have such an epidemic of violent crime (many of which are worse than the admittedly terrible crime alleged in this situation).
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You are funny. The KTs are the admins of the 5ATexasFootball board.

The Dallas crime rate is not the highest in the country, but I suppose that depends on what year you are looking at and what crimes you care about.

On the other hand, Southlake has a very, very low crime rate. I'd be you can count the violent crimes each year in Southlake on one hand. We don't even have our own jail.

My daughter graduated from SLC this past Friday. She was among 575 seniors who graduated which is over 99% of the class. 97% of this class is going on to college. Over $11,000,000 in scholarships was earned by this class which is almost $20,000 per student on average. My daughter received two scholarships. She was all-state in her event this year (I won't say which event it is) but I will say that she was the only all-stater from SLC in this event in the last 3 years. She is very talented and her success was rewarded by two scholarships.
 
Bordertown said:
The point is this school in Miami had some serious priority issues.
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The point was that if Woody Hayes is so concerned with his personal safety, he needs to worry more about his fellow Texans than he does a group of football players from Miami who will be in his state for, what, two-three nights? That shows priority issues.
 
SLCDad said:
The Dallas crime rate is not the highest in the country, but I suppose that depends on what year you are looking at and what crimes you care about.
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I believe I was specific in the years and types of crime I was looking at.
Congrats on your daughter's accomplishments (all sarcasm and ball-busting aside).
 
The situation at MNW is very relavant to football. It speaks to the character of the administration, most likely the character of the coaches and perhaps even some of the players. Not only that, the cover-up was widespread. It wasn't just a few select leaders at MNW.

I believe that MNW cheated in the state final. Not only that, since they knew a crime had happened they should have dismissed Easterling from the team two months earlier. Essentially, they broke the rules and cheated for most of the season. That's my personal belief.

We've talked about the SLC vs. MNW game a lot on this board. Much has been posted about the "clash of cultures". This whole MNW fiasco and "The Year of the Bull" video show the cultures are about as opposite as you can get.

I'm sure there are many great people at MNW and all of this must be difficult for them. I also fully recognize the challenges that many MNW students must face. Nonetheless, some at the school have their priorities messed up, and their actions have sent a message to the students which is very harmful to them. They wanted to bring glory to MNW, but instead they brought the opposite.
 
letharion said:
The point was that if Woody Hayes is so concerned with his personal safety, he needs to worry more about his fellow Texans than he does a group of football players from Miami who will be in his state for, what, two-three nights? That shows priority issues.
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I think it is the 5,000 fans Naughty promises that will attend the game in Dallas, we are worried about. I think we can mobilize the Texas Guard to protect the citizens from the players. It is the adults and administration that don't seem to see the misplaced priority we are worried about entering our state. Naughty says 5,000 will attend. Texans think 350 is a generous figure as to how many will actually attend the game. That means there will be 4,650 up to no good somewhere in Dallas. :rolleyes:

Your point may be about Woody's well being, but I promise you his Ohioan heritage is being protected by a bunch of East Texas rednecks. By the way I can vouch that Woody will be safe in Ford Stadium. It is a very affluent area of Dallas will with it own police department and extremely low crime rate.

The thread is about a school where the football team winning is more important than following the school's discipline code and the school's administration turning their head. I believe what the young man did would have been statutory rape in Texas, whether the act was consentual or not. In my local district, the young man would have been removed from the general classroom until the matter was resolved.
 
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