Alleged racial comments prompt Interscholastic League to cancel athletic events with Lone Jack

Kansas City Public Schools have cancelled all athletic competition with Lone Jack High School after a Lincoln Prep girls soccer coach said his players were the subject of racial slurs during a game last week.

On April 7, a Lincoln Prep coach informed a Lone Jack athletics supervisor that he heard “inappropriate remarks” from the stands during the second half of the match, which Lone Jack won.

Lone Jack superintendent Bryan Prewitt said the supervisor went into the stands to attempt to verify the comments, but he was unable to do so.

In a statement this week, KCPS said all Interscholastic League schools will cancel its scheduled competition with Lone Jack through 2016.

“These types of incidents and allegations are taken very seriously. While it’s expected that people will show pride in their home teams, extra-curricular activities like sports are an extension of classrooms, and every student has the right to participate in a safe and respectful atmosphere, regardless of their allegiance,” the KCPS statement read.

Prewitt said Lone Jack’s administrative staff — including its principal and athletics director — interviewed referees, coaches and players from the match and found “no evidence” such comments were made.

“We had a supervisor literally standing between the student body and the coach. If anybody would’ve heard a comment made, it would’ve been our supervisor, who was standing closer to the student body than the coach was,” Prewitt said.

“Our students and staff are very upset about this because we know that’s not who we are. Despite the fact that we have a very small percentage of our student body that is not Caucasian, we work hard at promoting racial harmony and acceptance in diversity of ideas and thoughts.”

This story was originally published April 14, 2016 at 3:45 PM with the headline "Alleged racial comments prompt Interscholastic League to cancel athletic events with Lone Jack."