ORLANDO, Fla. – Jones High School has been reprimanded and fined following an Orange County Public Schools investigation into the former principal altering students' grades, according to the Florida High School Athletic Association.
The school self-reported that two student-athletes participated in track and field while they were not academically eligible. Students must have at least a 2.0 GPA in order to participate in school sports.
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"Regarding the students who had their grades changed, only a handful of them were student-athletes. Of those few, only one of them went from ineligible to eligible due to the grades being changed. Another was deemed ineligible after not fulfilling all of the requirements of the academic contract. The remaining student-athletes would have still been eligible had their grades not been changed," the FHSAA told News 6.
Former Jones High Principal Roderick Waldon admitted he made the grade changes on his own accord and several of the changes were made to improve the students' eligibility for the athletic scholarships through the NCAA Clearinghouse. For others, the changes were made to reportedly "improve the course grade following successful completion of the end-of-course examination."
OCPS removed the two athletes from participating in track and field and assigned a new administrative staff to the school after the violations came to light.
The FHSAA ruled that Jones High School would be fined $100 for each athlete who participated in track while being academically ineligible, for a total of $200. The school was also reprimanded, the athletic department was placed on administrative probation until June 30, 2018, and the school will have to forfeit all athletic contests in which the ineligible athletes competed, according to the report.
OCPS also investigated Jones High School’s assistant football coach, Andrew Anderson, for inappropriate recruiting practices.
Officials said Anderson texted a Haines City High School athlete on May 15 telling him colleges were asking about him in an effort to entice him to enroll at Jones High School.
Since then, Anderson has been ordered to limit his contact with the student-athlete.
The FHSAA ordered that the school's athletic department be placed on administrative probation until June 30, 2018, and Anderson must forfeit $5,000 of his salary for violating the association's recruiting policy.
The school was fined $2,500, but $2,250 will be held in abeyance until June 30, 2018, as long as the school does not violate any other FHSAA bylaws. The remaining $250 must be paid to the FHSAA.
“The Florida High School Athletic Association would like to publicly commend Orange County Public Schools, and in particular OCPS Senior Administrator for Athletics and Activities, Mr. Doug Patterson, for their exemplary work on the Jones High School investigation. The Association appreciates their efforts to ensure all student-athletes in the state of Florida receive equal and fair opportunities," the FHSAA said in a statement.