Bradenton Prep's latest attempt to overturn the violations levied against it by the Florida High School Athletic Association was denied Sunday afternoon.
Now, the school's attorney is leaving the next step in the hands of his client.
"I'll do whatever they want to do," Mark Aubin said. "We've tried to take the high road in this whole thing. Now, we've exhausted the administrative process, and there are other options available to us."
Sunday, the FHSAA's 16-member board of directors unanimously denied the school's appeal on eight of the violations, and in the process, upheld the school's record $34,650 fine and kept the football team on restrictive probation for three years.
The FHSAA found the west Bradenton private school in violation of 19 regulations over the summer. The association's infractions committee overturned three of the rulings during its July meeting, but the board of directors weren't as kind, and the football team is still barred from postseason play.
The board also voted to have school officials return to Gainesville in June to review their membership in the association.
"It's absurd," Aubin said. "They completely ignored the evidence."
Aubin didn't rule out taking the matter to court.
"If (Bradenton Prep officials) want to go down that route, they can," he said. "And they might not have a choice, because based on these sanctions and these penalties . . . it so far outweighs what they have been accused of doing."
Bradenton Prep appealed the FHSAA's rulings that a parent recruited five players to play football, and that the school illegally allowed students under disciplinary sanction from Horizon Academy to transfer and compete on its football team.
Those rulings were upheld by the infractions committee in July, and the board of directors followed suit Sunday.
"It's ridiculous," Aubin said. "Every one of the parents say their kids weren't recruited. That's No. 1. The investigator never asked any of the parents. (The parents said) they never met the parent until their kid was enrolled. (The FHSAA) ignored that."
Aubin also said the participation of Roger Dearing during Sunday's meeting created a conflict of interest. Dearing is one of two superintendent designates on the board of the directors and the former superintendent for the School District of Manatee County He forwarded complaints from area coaches to help trigger the FHSAA's investigation and will take over as the association's executive director in January.
"He was the one that filed the complaint, and he was the one in there doing all the talking," Aubin said. "He's got a personal vendetta, in my opinion, against the owner of Bradenton Prep, and now, he's in control."
Dearing disagreed.
"This whole board," he said, "is made up of high school coaches, athletic directors, principals, two school board members statewide, two superintendents statewide - and there are cases that come up all the time from our own counties."
Dearing said he has nothing personal against Bradenton Prep, adding that in 10 years working with the FHSAA, he has never seen a school found in violation of so many regulations.
"We just want Bradenton Prep to play by the rules," Dearing said. "If you start cheating and you start recruiting and you start violating financial aid and you start violation the scholarships . . . then everybody, including the public schools and the private schools, are not going to be standing beside you when the time comes to pay the price. In their attempt to find an athletic program, they lost their moral compass. All we want them to do is play by the rules."
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