Officials from a California school district say they were justified in suspending a varsity football team and canceling the team's season after an inappropriate group chat surfaced online.
"The nature of the thread was disturbing and inappropriate with content that does not fall in line with the values that we instill in our learning community," said Torie Gibson, Amador County Unified superintendent of schools in a letter to families, according to KCRA.
The letter also stated that Amador High School's varsity team would not have had enough players to field a team due to the number of team members involved in the chat.
The football team was suspended on Sept. 17 and the school district said "the scope of the allegations escalated the need for an external investigation by an independent investigator, with some of the allegations being referred to law enforcement."
Some of the students were cleared of any wrongdoing. Two of the three staff members who were placed on leave initially were also cleared. Football coach Matt Kantack and athletic director Kaleb Cagle will return to campus Thursday.
A complete report on the school's investigation will be presented to the district board.
