An Ohio high school that came under scrutiny after its football team was blown out in an ESPN showcase game was in fact a "scam," according to state officials.
The Columbus-area "non-chartered, non-tax-supported" Bishop Sycamore High School was found to have failed to meet minimum standards for yearly enrollments, academic standards and student safety, according to an investigation by the Ohio Department of Education.
Gov. Mike DeWine said he is asking the state attorney general and other officials to investigate whether Bishop Sycamore and its officials broke any laws.
The school could not be sanctioned at present by the DOE, the department said, because its tax status, which is typically reserved for schools on religious grounds, placed it mostly outside the agency's purview. However, the ODE noted it was unable to establish whether Bishop Sycamore actually held any such religious beliefs.
School officials have steadfastly denied allegations that Bishop Sycamore is a "scam," explaining that it was always intended to be serve as a stepping stone into college football for high school graduates.
In the wake of the infamous ESPN-televised game against Florida high school football powerhouse IMG Academy, it was revealed that Bishop Sycamore players had played two games in the course of three days at the season-opening showcase event, with many of them playing on both sides of the ball and even sharing equipment such as helmets with teammates.
On Friday, DeWine said he would work with lawmakers and officials across agencies to head off any additional situations like that of Bishop Sycamore.
“Ohio families should be able to count on the fact that our schools educate students and don’t exist in name only as a vehicle to play high school sports,” DeWine said in a written statement.
The ODE concluded that Bishop Sycamore was a school at all, but rather “a way for students to play football against high school teams and potentially increase students’ prospects of playing football at the collegiate level.”
“The cost of this dream for those students wasn’t just the tuition charged to attend the school,” the department said in its report Friday. “The price was the education the students were entitled to receive.”
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