Cahokia High School in Cahokia Heights, Ill., has canceled its football tailgates until further notice amid allegations that alcohol has been present at the school-sponsored events.
As reported by the Belleville News-Democrat, the district posted a letter announcing the decision on its Facebook page Thursday afternoon after Illinois High School Association assistant executive director Sam Knox sent an email to Cahokia principal Anson Mitchell and athletic director Roscoe Dowell. The email detailed the allegation, adding that it is against Illinois law and IHSA rules to have alcohol on school property during events sanctioned by the school.
Per the reporting of Madison Lammert, superintendent Curtis McCall Jr. said District 187 hasn’t had an issue with alcohol at the school’s tailgates, but is canceling the tailgates while it re-evaluates its policies.
“Right now I am taking a clear look at our set-up, procedures, protocols, everything, because we want to make sure that we remain within the boundaries of the law and don’t condone or participate in any behaviors that could compromise the safety of our students, integrity of our athletic programs or our relationship with the IHSA,” McCall said, as reported by the News-Democrat.
Knox’s email names Nicole Johnson as a concerned parent who lodged the complaint with the IHSA. Knox confirmed that he notified Mitchell and Dowell of the complaint and that he had spoken directly to Johnson on Tuesday, Lammert reported.
“In my opinion, this issue is between Cahokia High School and the IHSA,” he told the News-Democrat on Thursday afternoon.
Johnson does not have children attending Cahokia schools, but is a former district employee and lives in the community. She said she contacted the IHSA after the school board failed to act on earlier complaints from other parents, but McCall said the school board had never received any complaints about the tailgates. She also said McCall and school board president Marius Jackson appear to organize the tailgates.
According to Lammert's reporting, Johnson said she sent the IHSA flyers posted to social media advertising the tailgates, which include images of McCall and Jackson. She also forwarded a link to Jackson’s Facebook page that includes a video promoting Comanche football. One scene shows a man in a red shirt holding what looks to be a Bud Light can.
“These events are family events and it’s unprofessional to have leaders engaging in this kind of behavior when they’re supposed to lead by example,” Johnson said.
McCall said the school-sponsored tailgates are sanctioned by the school board, and are not organized solely by him and Jackson. The tailgates started at Cahokia High about three years ago as a way for alumni and community members to support the team over hot dogs and burgers, he said, per Lammert.
Individuals are scanned with a security wand before entering the tailgate area — just as they are before entering games — and their bags are searched, so “nobody should be in that area with any unauthorized items,” McCall said.
McCall said he doesn’t know for certain, but the man holding what looks to be a beer can appears in the image to be outside the tailgate area.
Johnson claims being named in the district’s announcement that the tailgates were being suspended amounts to retaliated for publicly supporting the teachers’ union in their ongoing contract negotiations with the district.
“Not only is it retaliation, it’s intimidation,” Johnson said, as reported by the News-Democrat. “I feel attacked.”
“I think the public needed to know where this came from,” McCall said. “I wasn’t going to allow them to say that I was canceling [the tailgates] just to cancel them.”
