Suspensions rile parents

COAL TOWNSHIP - About a dozen Our Lady of Lourdes Regional High School students were suspended for a day for what school officials are calling "an act of disobedience and defiance" regarding the clothes they wore to a girls' basketball game earlier this month.

The punishment has been met with outrage from some parents, who feel the discipline violates their children's freedom of speech and puts a stain on their conduct records. One suspended student said it was nothing more than "good, clean fun."

The suspensions, which were served Monday, grew out of the long-standing practice - particularly among teams in the Schuylkill League, of which Lourdes is a part - of students dressing to mock the culture of their opponents.

A group of Lourdes students reportedly dressed as farmers for a game at Tri-Valley Feb. 1, which the home team won, 39-37. After that, the school received a letter from a Tri-Valley fan and Lourdes alumna who said she found the Lourdes students' attire offensive.

The student body was subsequently warned not to dress like that for future games.

However, some reportedly did for a Feb. 14 playoff game against Tri-Valley, played at Mahanoy Area High School.

The suspensions are a result of that defiance, Principal David Becker said Monday.

"We teach conduct and character here at Lourdes, and it was lacking (in that instance)," he said.

Becker is a former middle school principal at Southern Columbia Area who came out of retirement to take the Lourdes position. He started Jan. 19.

He would not give an exact number of students who were suspended, but parents are saying between 10 to 15 have been punished.

Becker said while the game wasn't at Lourdes, it was a PIAA-scheduled event and, therefore, is still considered a school event for which school rules apply.

"These students chose to disregard that," he said.

He said that, in addition to how students dressed, they also verbally mocked one of the Tri-Valley players.

Becker said the entire student body was warned Feb. 8 by Sister Margaret McCullough, administrator and elementary principal. When it became common knowledge that students were planning to dress up for the Feb. 14 game, Becker said student council officers issued warnings to students the Friday before the game.

John Deere hat

Anna Garancheski, of Coal Township, whose son, Alex, was suspended, believes the school is making too much of the incident.

Besides, in the case of her son, Alex, she said he simply wore a pink and white John Deere hat to the Feb. 14 game; he wore a straw hat, flannel shirt and bib overalls to the Feb. 1 game.

"I do not believe that my son did anything to warrant being suspended," she said Monday, reiterating what she wrote in an e-mail sent Friday to Lavia Riley, superintendent of schools for the Department of Education at the Diocese of Harrisburg. "He attended a basketball game on a Sunday afternoon and wore a baseball hat. He was not a part of the team, he did not travel with the team and he did not act inappropriately at the game. He was a fan in the stands who had a baseball hat on."

Alex was told of his suspension by Becker on Thursday, after which he called his mother. She came to the school and the three met.

Mrs. Garancheski said the principal acknowledged there was nothing wrong with the pink and white hat, which she showed him, but that her son was suspended for the "intent" he had by wearing it.

Alex said Monday the taunting is common and reciprocal. He noted Tri-Valley students often wear skirts and ties in mocking Lourdes' school uniforms.

He said that at the Feb. 14 game, Tri-Valley students wore T-shirts showing a picture of a skull and crossbones, but with pick axes replacing the bones, representing "coal crackers."

Parents of at least two other Lourdes students said Monday they don't agree with the suspensions.

Tri-Valley High School Principal Charles Hall said Monday that, because of policy requiring permission of the superintendent, who wasn't available, he couldn't comment on the situation from his school's standpoint.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Garancheski is upset about her son's school record. She said he is a "B" student who received a grade of 95 in conduct. She said he's missed only one day of school in the past five years, not counting his suspension day.

'Dress how I please'

While angry about the discipline, Alex said that he is not going to let it change his attitude.

"This could affect me getting into college, but I'm going to attend the games and dress how I please," he said. "To me, it's nothing but good, clean fun."

The Lourdes girls have qualified for the District 4 Class A playoffs, earning the top seed. Tri-Valley is also in the playoffs, but in District 11. The two teams wouldn't meet unless they both made it through to the state playoff level - which they did last year, when they faced off in a game at Shikellamy High School in Sunbury.

Mrs. Garancheski expressed concern for her son's rights in her e-mail to the diocese.

"I sent my children to Lourdes Regional because I believe there is no better education than a Catholic school education," she wrote. "However, I don't believe the Catholic school system has the ability to violate my son's right to freedom of speech."