Middletown (Pennsylvania) High School has canceled its 2022 football season in light of new evidence in a bullying scandal.
According to Brian Linder at PennLive.com, the school made the announcement today after the district obtained additional video of a hazing incident involving players that occurred during the team’s acclimatization period in the second week of August. This follows a video of a sexualized abuse incident revealed on the 11th.
The team’s head coach, Scott Acree, had already stepped down last week and was replaced by Rob Brodish.
Superintendent Chelton Hunter released a written statement promising discipline for all students involved.
“Unfortunately, this video shows that this bullying was much more widespread and involved many more students than we previously knew… All students found to be involved in this incident will be disciplined accordingly with our Student Code of Conduct and Harassment Policy. Any staff members found to have condoned this type of harassment will also be subject to disciplinary action… This simply cannot and will not be tolerated. We know we must work to address the culture of this team, educate our students about bullying, and put programs in place to help ensure that such an atmosphere is never allowed to exist in our school facilities.”
Middletown was scheduled to open its season Friday against Lower Dauphin.
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