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SMCISD Board OKs legal counsel to aid student-athletes impacted by UIL ineligibility

Saturday, October 29, 2022

The San Marcos Consolidated ISD Board of Trustees will help student-athletes impacted by the University Interscholastic League State Executive Committee’s decision to deny their appeals for varsity eligibility.

The SMCISD board approved a resolution which authorizes legal counsel to take any and all appropriate action to defend district students during a meeting Thursday. The resolution states that SMCISD’s Superintendent is authorized to engage in legal counsel to take appropriate action to assist the parents and students to seek an extension through the UIL process and to expend public funds accordingly.

The resolution states that a student’s parent or legal guardian must provide authorization to receive the district’s help.

“The decisions made by the UIL earlier this month about our school, our students and our coaches were based on false allegations without any evidence of misconduct,” Trustee Anne Halsey said in a statement. “The resulting punishments the UIL levied against our kids and our coaches are excessive. We’ve been dragged through the mud thanks to a few bad actors in an outdated system of governance.

“Moreover, as the mother of three SMCISD students, I find the disparaging and unprofessional comments made about our district by politically-appointed state officials — who lack oversight and accountability — completely out of line,” Halsey added.

The board’s decision comes after 12 student-athletes were ruled ineligible by the District 27-6A Executive Committee for allegedly transferring for athletic purposes.

The 12 students transferred from different districts throughout the area, including Canyon Lake, Comal ISD, Converse Judson and San Antonio Wagner.

Eleven of the students played on the same AAU football team, the Texas Seminoles. The DEC alleged that Earl Anderson, a San Marcos Consolidated ISD employee who was a parent with a child who played on the Texas Seminoles, recruited the players to San Marcos. The DEC also claimed Anderson was a volunteer coach with San Marcos High School. Athletic Director and head football coach John Walsh, however, informed the DEC and SEC that Anderson was not a volunteer coach.

Anderson received a public reprimand during an Oct. 3 meeting before the UIL SEC. No further official action was taken against Anderson by the state executive committee.

All 12 student-athletes at San Marcos High School were ruled ineligible for three years after they appealed their varsity eligibility status to the UIL SEC during two separate meetings in October. The student-athletes would be eligible at the schools they are appropriately zoned to attend.

The UIL also levied a five-game suspension to Athletic Director and head football coach John Walsh for lack of program oversight. Assistant coach Lee Vallejo was suspended from coaching for two years for alleged recruiting violations.

Following a nearly two-hour closed session discussion, the board unanimously approved the resolution discussed. The action taken will allow legal counsel to aid students in an effort to seek an extension of a 30-day time period where they can decide to go back to their previous school district or remain at San Marcos High School, an SMCISD spokesperson said.

San Marcos Record

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