DUNKIRK, N.Y. — From Chautauqua County, we have learned of the postponement of high school basketball games last week in the wake of disturbing online messages about some Native American student-athletes.
2 On Your Side spoke with some of the school officials who say they took immediate action to avoid further problems.
Silver Creek Schools Superintendent Dr. Katie Ralston said, "What was brought to my attention was a racially charged social media posts against our student-athletes."
That prompted a formal notice by Ralston to jointly postpone last Friday's scheduled JV and Varsity boys basketball games with the Dunkirk City Schools teams. About 15% of the Silver Creek student population of 1,200n are from the Seneca Nation or other such nations.
"We spoke with the superintendent and athletic director at Dunkirk and started moving forward with the proper investigation and steps we felt were necessary to take in the entire process just to ensure the overall safety of all of our students and our community members," Ralston said.
It does not appear there was any direct threat to the district or players but district leaders felt the decision was prudent considering the circumstances. We reached out to some police agencies but so far there has been no response so it is not clear if any were involved. However, there are school resource officers in both school districts.
Mansfield told us this about their investigation. "We didn't know who posted it. What concerned us was we had students who participated in it by either liking it or commenting on it. So those students and their parents were contacted about how that is inappropriate and really a violation of our Code of Conduct and athletic policy."
Ralston added "When there are derogatory comments or things put out like that we can't allow that to happen. Superintendent Mansfield was phenomenal in working with us to make sure that the right message got across and that everything was handled properly. "
2 On Your Side followed up by asking "Do you know if the Chautauqua County Sheriff's office or any police agencies are looking into anything or do you think it's more of an in-house thing at this point from what you understand?
She replied, "I know that Superintendent Mansfield is handling that investigation exactly how he should be and including everybody that he should be."
We also asked Superintendent Mansfield "Would you expect there would be any discipline or do you think this is more of just a learning experience at this point?
His response: "I feel we've addressed it with the students and the parents to the point where they've gotten the message."
Mansfield then said he felt it was a valuable lesson as well "We want to send a strong message that that's not how you raise school spirit or it's not how you want to portray yourself or your organization as you go into your future. So we really wanted to drive that home that this just isn't something you want to be participating in."
Silver Creek and Dunkirk officials hope to reschedule the games later in the season.
Finally, on a positive note, Superintendent Mansfield says the athletic directors, coaches, and players from both schools have been in contact to express their respect and "clear the air" as he puts it to get back to just playing basketball.