Penn Hills School Board recognizes middle school volleyball team
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Members of the Penn Hills girls’ middle school volleyball team were recognized at the Penn Hills School Board meeting on April 26.
The team made news with a March 2 incident at a match against Kiski, in which Penn Hills alleges that the athletes were the targets of racial attacks. Kiski Area School District officials have denied the accusations following an investigation.
“This evening, we thought it was most appropriate to recognize the members of that team, that coaching staff, that went through that traumatic experience,” said Dr. Nancy Hines, Penn Hills School District superintendent.
“We are very sorry that you had to go through that, but we want to know that we stand behind you,” she told the team members. “And we are so pleased to have you as our students.”
Penn Hills investigated the incident and stated that all seven students who were interviewed as part of the process stood by the accusations of racial taunts directed to them by Kiski fans. Hines said at the board meeting that she had not met with the whole team, only those who had firsthand information about what transpired.
“I had the pleasure to meet these young women several weeks ago after a very unfortunate incident at the Kiski gym,” Hines said. “These young women were forthright, and they talked about something that was very disconcerting to them.
“We know that there’s been a lot of publicity about that particular incident, and it really was provoked by us, because we went on record to say that behavior is unacceptable. It does not meet our standards, and we will not subject our students to that type of treatment.”
Penn Hills School District has since refused to play Kiski Area across all sports.
Hines mentioned that there was a threat of sanctions from the WPIAL over not playing games against Kiski, but that the spring sports teams were in support of the boycott. She said on April 26 that the WPIAL executive board decided that Penn Hills will not be sanctioned.