LEWIS CENTER — Olentangy school board members condemned hazing at their first meeting since allegations involving the Orange High School girls soccer team became public.
“This board has zero tolerance for hazing — zero tolerance for hazing,” Board President Brandon Lester said.
According to reporting by The Columbus Dispatch, a video of the alleged hazing showed Orange girls soccer players binding younger teammates’ wrists, blindfolding them and force-feeding them uncooked hot dogs and sardines.
In response to the incident, Olentangy officials have placed all four Orange girls soccer coaches across the three teams on administrative leave and removed six senior players from the team.
But one parent questioned whether the district’s response has gone far enough.
Helen Dunlap, one of two residents who addressed the board about the incident, called the consequences for the players involved “soft” and questioned whether they reflected the board’s message of zero tolerance.
“I don’t think students will feel any safer based on a policy that already exists. The zero tolerance policy has always been there,” Dunlap said. “I’m just speaking from it as a concerned parent for students’ behalf.”
Lester said there are still many details about the case he cannot talk about while it is still under active investigation.
Questions about accountability and culture
Dunlap said she wants to see a stronger response from district leadership, including more preventive measures to discourage similar behavior in the future.
“I do feel as a student who’s been in the district for 10 years, there is a slight bullying culture. And it is brushed under the rug,” she said.
Annette Moore, another district resident, also urged the board to use the incident as an opportunity “to make an example of the situation so that it does not happen again.”
Board member Kevin Daberkow spoke about the damage hazing can do to students and rejected the notion that such behavior helps build stronger teams.
“It’s not funny to degrade kids,” he said. “It doesn’t build team, it builds resentment and it perpetuates just this horrible thought that you have to break people down in order to build them up on the team. It just doesn’t work that way.”
Lester echoed those concerns, warning that hazing can escalate quickly and that preventing it requires action beyond the school district itself.
“These are the sorts of things that can get out of control very, very, very quickly. And it is essential that people understand the impacts that they can have and take appropriate action to prevent them,” he said.
“Now this is very much a district responsibility to address this, but it’s also a community responsibility.”
Hazing prevention is everyone’s responsibility
Though district already has a policy prohibiting hazing, the allegations have prompted a broader examination of how students and staff recognize, report and respond to such behavior.
Lester outlined four priorities for district leadership and the community: educating people about hazing, encouraging reporting without fear of retaliation, responding appropriately to reports and promoting a culture free of hazing, bullying and harassment.
Students and community members can report incidents directly to district leadership or anonymously through the district’s Stay Safe, Speak Up system.
Lester said the district will not tolerate retaliation against those who report hazing and is reviewing its practices to ensure staff can better support people who come forward.
The district has also previously announced mandatory hazing-prevention training for middle and high school students involved in athletics and co-curricular activities, along with their coaches and activity directors.
That includes programs such as band and choir, reflecting the district’s recognition that hazing is not limited to sports teams.
“Hazing is not just in athletics, it can arise in a wide variety of context, and it’s important that people understand what this actually looks like, how it arises in practice and what to do in the event that it does arise,” Lester said.
But Lester emphasized that training and policies alone cannot address the broader culture surrounding hazing and bullying.
“Hazing is but one aspect when we look at things like bullying or harassment or some of these other sorts of things, that are signs of a problem in culture,” he said.
“And culture is not just the district’s responsibility. It’s all of our responsibility. It’s a community expectation.”
Superintendent Todd Meyer said the school’s leadership team will present at the Oct. 22 meeting about the district’s plans moving forward in response to the incident.
