Juneau School District hires lawyer to investigate hazing

  • Wednesday, August 13, 2014 10:02pm
  • News

JUNEAU (AP) — The Juneau School District has hired an Anchorage attorney to help investigate alleged hazing involving high school athletes and a wooden paddle.

Schools Superintendent Mark Miller announced Tuesday that attorney John Sedor is coming on board for the investigation, the Juneau Empire reported.

Parents have complained that their high school-age children who are athletes were kidnapped and beaten with paddles by upperclassman on May 31.

The district has been investigating the incident since June. The police department also looked into the matter, but ended its criminal investigation without any arrests or charges.

Miller said the district is looking into violations of board policy and state statutes, unlike police, who look at possible violations of the penal code.

Sedor will be speaking with students and staff, Miller said at Tuesday’s Board of Education meeting.

Miller said Sedor already has been talking to adults with direct knowledge of the incident and will soon start interviewing students.

“We can’t rely on what we read in the news as what we take action on,” he said. “We have to verify all those facts.”

Police ended their investigation after no witnesses were willing to step forward and say they were willing to testify.

At the time, police chief Bryce Johnson said police know who did the paddling and who got paddled. He said none of those who were paddled were willing to testify for various reasons, including fear of retaliation, being ostracized by their teammates and not wishing to rat out friends. Another reason may be that athletes feel this is a rite of passage.

Johnson said the investigation showed the culprits came from all three high schools in Juneau, not just one has some parents previously believed.

According to Johnson, this hazing has been going on for at least a decade, maybe longer. He said there’s a lengthy culture and tradition of the activity, a cycle where students who are paddled are the ones doing it four years later.

More in News

Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion
Brad Snowden and Julie Crites participate in a Seward City Council candidate forum at the Seward Community Library in Seward on Thursday.
Seward council candidates discuss issues at election forum

Participating in Thursday’s forum were Julie Crites and Brad Snowden

Cam Choy, associate professor of art at Kenai Peninsula College, works on a salmon sculpture in collaboration with the Kenai Watershed Forum during the Kenai River Festival at Soldotna Creek Park in Soldotna, Alaska, on June 8, 2019. (Peninsula Clarion file)
Soldotna adopts arts and culture master plan

The plan outlines how the city plans to support arts and culture over the next 10 years

Architect Nancy Casey speaks in front of a small gathering at the Fireside Chat presented by the Kenai Watershed Forum on Nov. 30, 2022, at Kenai River Brewing in Soldotna, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai Watershed Forum’s Fireside Chats return Wednesday

The chats will cover a range of interesting topics, centered on knowledge, research and projects

Erosion of the Kenai bluff near the Kenai Senior Center. (Photo by Aidan Curtin courtesy Scott Curtin)
Kenai to sign bluff stabilization agreement Monday

A signing event will be held at 5:30 p.m. at the Kenai Senior Center

Engineer Lake Cabin can be seen in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge on Nov. 21, 2021. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion)
Public comment accepted for proposed rate increases for overnight fees at refuge

Campsites would increase $5 per night and cabins would increase $10 per night

Abigal Craig, youth winner of the Seventh Annual Kenai Silver Salmon Derby, is presented a novelty check by Kenai River Sportfishing Association Executive Director Shannon Martin, City of Kenai Mayor Brian Gabriel, and Kenai Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Samantha Springer at the Kenai Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center in Kenai, Alaska, on Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Silver Salmon Derby nets fish, funds for river protection

116 fish were weighed by 79 anglers across the six days of competition

Soldotna Public Works Director Kyle Kornelis talks about the Soldotna field house project during a Soldotna City Council meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Soldotna awards field house contract

Anchorage-based Criterion General, Inc. will construct the facility

Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Peter Micciche testifies before the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly during a meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Assembly to let borough mayors speak sooner during meetings

The mayor’s report will now be given after the first round of public comments and before public hearings and new assembly business

Assembly members Lane Chesley, left, and Richard Derkevorkian participate in a borough assembly meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Haara/Peninsula Clarion)
Assembly asks state to allow term limits for school board members

Alaska Statute does not allow term limits to be imposed on school board members

Most Read