Earlier this week, an affidavit was released concerning alleged drug use by some Harrisonburg High School football players. On Friday, Harrisonburg City Schools Superintendent Dr. Donald Ford released the following statement:

"Many years ago, the Harrisonburg City School Board adopted policies making it clear that student drug use is wrong and will not be tolerated in out schools. Our school board is committed to enforcement of our substance abuse policies and takes very seriously any violations. Those policies apply in school, on school property, on school and at all school activities.

"I was deeply disappointed to hear allegations this past Wednesday that some of our football players violated not only school policies but also the trust of our coaches, staff and parents by using pain killers prior to ball games. The allegations raise serious concerns for our school division and for our community regarding student access to and use of illegal drugs and, unfortunately, this incident is one more example of the larger community concern we all have for our teenagers and the use of illegal drugs.

"High school sports have always been an important part of our community and I believe they provide both enjoyable and valuable experience for the hundreds of students who participate. It is simply unacceptable, though, for any athlete to ever resort to the use of drugs to gain an unfair competitive advantage. All of us like to win, but wining must never become so important, whether in sports or in life, that we sacrifice honesty, integrity or student safety.

"The search warrant served at Harrisonburg High School on April 9 also contained allegations that three members of our coaching staff had actual knowledge that this drug use was occurring, that one member of our staff had knowledge of a robbery that occurred off school grounds, and that none of this information was appropriately reported. I am unable to comment on these allegations due to the confidential nature of personnel matters and because we are in the early stages of our investigation. However, I can assure our community members and parents that a thorough investigation by the school division is occurring.

"To ensure the School Board has the benefit of a thorough, objective internal investigation of these allegations, I have recommended that our school board retain the services of an outside, independent investigator to conduct interviews and review documentation to gather all the facts. The School Board has agreed. The Board and I anticipate that the findings of the investigation will aid in the development of recommendations for responsive and corrective action to help minimize the occurrence of this kind of activity in the future and to ensure that school personnel respond aggressively and appropriately to suspected drug activity. As is frequently true in personnel matters, the news media may only be able to report one side of issues. I encourage our community to understand that during the conduct of investigation, we will likely be unable to comment publicly on the investigation because of legal obligations and because we have an obligation to be absolutely fair to both our staff and students.

"With regard to the discipline of students, whether they are or are not athletes, our substance abuse police calls for a ten-day suspension for the first offense involving use or possession of drugs and an additional 30 day exclusion from all school activities. A second offense for use or possession, or a first offense for distribution of drugs, requires a suspension and a recommendation to the school board for expulsion of the student. State and federal laws prohibit the school division from releasing information relating to the discipline of individual students. however, the school board will take appropriate disciplinary action against any involved students.

"Finally, we will continue to work cooperatively with law enforcement and the Commonwealth's Attorney's Office toward everyone's goal of safe and drug-free schools."