Penn Hills stands by decision for teams to not play Kiski Area this spring over racism accusations

By: Michael Love
Friday, April 1, 2022 | 2:38 PM

The Penn Hills School Board on Wednesday reaffirmed the district’s stance that its high school sports teams will not play Kiski Area opponents this spring after allegations that Kiski Area fans subjected Penn Hills players to racist taunts at a March 2 middle school volleyball game.

Kiski Area’s superintendent characterized Penn Hills’ decision as divisive, and the WPIAL’s executive director called it disheartening.

“After consultation with our solicitor, we prepared and forwarded to the WPIAL a detailed explanation of our concerns about resuming play this school year,” Penn Hills School District superintendent Nancy Hines said in a statement Friday.

“The sum and substance of that communication was that we feel it’s best not to engage in competition while emotions may still be high. Instead, our Penn Hills teams will be performing community service on those five Kiski game dates.”

Each district investigated the allegations.

Kiski Area School District superintendent Misty Slavic reiterated in a statement sent to the Kiski Area school community Thursday and obtained by the Tribune-Review that through an investigation, which included review of video footage of the game in question; interviews with district parents, students and athletes who were in attendance, as well as the attending Penn Hills assistant athletic director; and collaborative efforts with the WPIAL organization to work on a mutual solution for future competitions “(it) has found no evidence to support the belief that racist comments were made.

“The most recent decision by the Penn Hills School District creates division and stands in contradiction to the fundamental purpose of athletics,” Slavic said in the statement.

“This decision goes against Kiski Area’s core beliefs. As a public school district, we firmly believe that it is our responsibility to continually educate our students and staff on the importance of kindness, compassion and acceptance in our actions both in our schools and in our communities.”

Hines previously confirmed that a report received from Kiski Area indicated the district found no eyewitness accounts or video footage to corroborate the allegations, but each of the seven volleyball players interviewed by Penn Hills administration were clear in what they saw and heard during the match.

WPIAL executive director Amy Scheuneman on Thursday evening said she wished the districts could have agreed upon a solution to the issue and that it was unfortunate the Penn Hills school board felt the need to take the action it did.

“The WPIAL is disheartened to hear that an educational institution is not willing to work with another educational institution to provide a mutually acceptable safe environment for student-athletes to compete, especially in sports where no students were involved with the accusations,” Scheuneman said.

“Should the two schools choose not to schedule exhibition (nonsection) contests in the future, that is understandable and would be accepted. However, canceling contests, specifically league-scheduled contests, is against the PIAA by-laws and that is what the (WPIAL) board of directors will have to address at their next regularly scheduled meeting.”

The next WPIAL board of directors meeting is scheduled for April 13.

The Penn Hills and Kiski Area baseball teams were to play nonsection varsity and junior varsity games Wednesday.

Hines said the baseball teams planned to assist with school garden maintenance at both Linton Middle School and Penn Hills Elementary, but that work is being rescheduled because of weather conditions that day.

The softball teams both are in Section 1-5A and are scheduled to play games April 8 and 29.

The middle school softball teams were slated to meet April 6 and May 4.

If the events embargo extends into the fall sports season, head-to-head competition in Division I, Section 4 cross country and Section 4-3A boys golf could be affected. No other teams from the schools share a section, though WPIAL alignment for baseball, boys and girls basketball and softball has not yet been approved or released.

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Kiski Area, Penn Hills