SUTTER CREEK, Calif. — Some parents still feel as though they are in the dark after Amador County Unified School District published some of the findings by an independent investigation into a troubling varsity football group chat that caused administrators to cancel the team's season.
In the letter to parents obtained by ABC10, Superintendent Torie Gibson said that the school district became aware of the group chat on Sept. 14 and canceled the varsity football team's season soon after. She says it was the district's legal responsibility to investigate the group chat because it was used as an "Amador Football function."
The letter states that the investigation found racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic comments dominated the chat, but there are still open questions about who said what and whether the issue is truly resolved.
"It can’t be transparent because you can’t release names of minors. I mean, that is off the table," said Melissa Coviello, who moderates the Amador County Schools Community Forum page on Facebook.
But, Coviello says there hasn't been an acknowledgement about what was said and by which players. The situation has divided the community.
On one side, Coviello said, there are "parents who know students personally outraged that their children have been judged to be guilty immediately, and you have the other side that is outraged that it isn’t being taken seriously, even with an investigation."
The situation also calls for more sensitivity training and cultural understanding among student athletes, Coviello said.
"Sometimes kids mimic their parents and don’t understand the underlying issues with what they’re saying," she said.
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