SFPS won’t punish athletes for parents’ behavior
School board chooses not to pursue new rules on poor conduct by parents, fans
After a couple of days of much fanfare, Santa Fe Public Schools dropped its attempt to toughen policies concerning out-of-control parent and fan behavior at school sporting events.
School board members decided at their Tuesday meeting not to go forward with exploring a new policy outlining punishments that parents and fans could face if they became unruly at athletic events. Larry Chavez, the school district’s athletic director, was prepared to make a presentation of school board policy at the Aug. 7 school board meeting.
The decision came two days after a New Mexican story in which board President Steven Carrillo raised the possibility of athletes being removed from their teams if their parents’ behavior at events became unacceptable.
Carrillo clarified his remarks during and after Tuesday’s meeting that he wasn’t advocating for that specific policy, but trying to impress upon the public the importance of parents and fans being accountable for their actions. Carrillo mentioned that he attends a lot of sporting events in town and has seen what he considered unsportsmanlike behavior from fans — and parents in particular. He added that he has spoken to many referees and coaches about how spectators’ behavior was driving them away from their respective sports.
“They love kids and they love sports,” Carrillo said. “They quit because of the adults.”
However, some of the board members indicated they were put off by Carrillo’s comments and they felt that the district has policies in place to address rowdy spectators.
Board member Kate Noble criticized the attention the story drew, feeling that it took away from the district’s focus on the upcoming school year, which begins Aug. 14.
“This is not particularly good policy that we are spending our time on,” Noble said. “To me, this has wasted district resources, staff time [and] my own time and energy at critical time when we’re all going back to school. … I’m pretty unhappy with this. I don’t think we need to codify a parent’s code of behavior.”
Board Vice President Maureen Cashmon mentioned Section 608 of school board policies applied to fans since it relates to visitors to school campuses and district-owned property. It states, in part, that visitors can be prohibited from entering or removed from the grounds for failure to “comply with district policies or regulations; engages in disruptive conduct or otherwise unreasonably interferes with, or deprives the public of, the intended use of district property.”
Athletic director Chavez added that Section 112 also could be used because it reiterates the board’s commitment to treating all people with respect. Part of it states that the board is committed to “maintaining orderly educational and administrative processes, keeping schools, administrative offices and Board meetings free from disruptions and preventing unauthorized persons from entering school/ District grounds and facilities.”
Chavez also pointed out that the New Mexico Activities Association emphasized support to its member schools during the New Mexico High School Coaches Association’s annual coaches clinic Tuesday in Albuquerque and would strongly support any school that disciplined fans or parents, to the point of even banning those people from athletic events statewide.
The NMAA’s board of directors approved a bylaw last month that states its members were responsible for “the conduct of its team, coaches, students and fans at any interscholastic event” and allowing the organization to impose penalties on schools that repeatedly violate the policy.
The NMAA dealt with a couple of high-profile incidents last year, including a brawl at the state wrestling championships in February started by parents of opposing wrestlers from Belen and Albuquerque St. Pius X in the middle of their championship match.
A week later, a scuffle among players, coaches and fans from Las Vegas Robertson and St. Michael’s erupted after the District 2-4A boys basketball semifinals and led to Santa Fe police officers escorting both teams off the campus.
Chavez said SFPS has not dealt with an incident like that during his nine months as athletic director, but he knows parent and fan conduct has become a growing problem nationally.
“Our districts and schools, in addressing this issue, are they educating our spectators, are they being proactive?” Chavez said. “I think the NMAA really did change the bylaws so they can help the districts and hold them accountable for their own fans. I think we do a good job here of being proactive and educating our fans.”
Carrillo feels, however, the school district still needed to create a policy specific to this type of behavior to help guide future administrators and board members when dealing with disruptive behavior at sporting events. He said the issue probably won’t be addressed in the near future.
“I don’t think we’ll revisit this,” Carrillo said. “We will if something happens.”