WPIAL reaches conclusion in Connellsville-Penn Hills racial slur case

By: HSSN Staff
Monday, September 24, 2018 | 6:03 PM

About two dozen school administrators, students, parents, athletic trainers, security personnel and community members from Connellsville and Penn Hills testified Monday at a WPIAL hearing to investigate allegations of racial slurs.

Even Connellsville’s mayor offered his testimony during a hearing that was unusual in both size and scope.

In a DoubleTree of Green Tree conference room, the WPIAL board heard testimony for more than two hours from witnesses who were asked to address accusations that Connellsville players and fans targeted Penn Hills players with racial slurs during a boys soccer game Sept. 6.

The WPIAL board deliberated for a half-hour and reached a tentative decision, WPIAL executive director Tim O’Malley said, but that decision won’t be revealed until after the schools involved are notified at 8 a.m. Wednesday.

“The decision has been made in theory,” O’Malley said. “We have to put some things together (Tuesday). We have to come to a conclusion.”

The WPIAL board scheduled the hearing because the schools submitted conflicting reports. Reaching a consensus opinion wasn’t simple, O’Malley added.

“It’s hard,” he said. “It’s a challenge. I’ll talk to you more about it Wednesday, but it’s very challenging. It was a long day.”

Penn Hills superintendent Nancy Hines and Connellsville superintendent Joseph Bradley declined comment until after the WPIAL renders its decision.

The hearing was closed at Connellsville’s request.

With a large number of witnesses, the WPIAL organized this hearing different than others. The WPIAL board called witnesses in one at a time.

“The difference was the number of students that were involved,” O’Malley said. “We brought them all in individually to hear from each of them individually, to see if there was in fact some consistency in what was shared.”

The reports of racial slurs prompted the Penn Hills administration to postpone all future contests with Connellsville until the issue was resolved. The two boys soccer teams were scheduled to rematch Tuesday at Penn Hills.

Connellsville has denied the allegations.

“I wanted to let the board know, and I wanted to let the community of Penn Hills know, that Connellsville is not full of racists as we were portrayed,” said Connellsville mayor Greg Lincoln, who testified Monday that he attended the Sept. 6 soccer game. “I wanted them to know that the 80 minutes that I was there, we did not hear any racial slurs being said.”

Chris Harlan is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Chris at charlan@tribweb.com or via Twitter @CHarlan_Trib.

Tags: Connellsville, Penn Hills