| abstract
| - School district e-mails indicate a Valley High School basketball player initially did not receive an athletic scholarship because of miscommunication with tournament officials awarding the money. The Valley News Dispatch in late January requested to see all written communications, including mail, e-mails, memos and notes, sent or received by district officials regarding the C.J. Betters Tournament, an annual Beaver County basketball tournament in which the Valley Vikings boys team played in late December. Team members and their parents were upset when no senior player was awarded a $1,000 scholarship at a tournament awards ceremony, even though a member from each of the other seven participating teams was recognized. When district officials provided only general accounts of why the money was not awarded initially, the newspaper filed a request for documents relating to the scholarship under the state's revised Right To Know Act. The district initially denied the paper's request, indicating the documents were used in an in-house investigation and could not be released for personnel privacy reasons. When the paper announced its intention to appeal New Kensington-Arnold's denial, district Solicitor Anthony Vigilante reviewed the issue and granted the Valley News Dispatch access to seven pages of January e-mails relating to the tournament. The documents were sent to the newspaper's attorneys over the weekend. "It was such a minimal amount of information that it wasn't worth getting into litigation over," Vigilante said of the district's change of heart. Also, Vigilante said Athletic Director Frank Campbell — the employee parents had accused of wrongdoing in the scholarship snafu — did not object to releasing the information. "I'm glad the district has seen the error in its denial," said Jeff Domenick, editor of the Valley News Dispatch. "Maybe now the board will realize they just should've explained this to the public in the first place. "Had they explained early on, the paper wouldn't have had to fight to get the information. We both wouldn't have had to pay our attorneys to get involved, the public would have had the information it wanted and this whole matter would've gone away a month ago." Misunderstanding The school board in January announced the situation was caused by a misunderstanding over whether the tournament would cover the cost of the team's lodging in lieu of awarding the scholarship. However, the board declined to release further details, citing personnel privacy restrictions. An e-mail from David P. Ambrose, a tournament founder and organizer, to Campbell on Jan. 9 stated the scholarship committee thought the $1,000 would be split between the team's estimated $517 hotel bill and a scholarship. He wrote the tournament hadn't planned to award the scholarship until the hotel bill was submitted. Campbell was under the impression the tournament would provide a full $1,000 scholarship plus cover the hotel bill, according to Ambrose's e-mail. "I think at that point it became a misunderstanding on both parts (Mr. Campbell and our committee)," Ambrose wrote. Reached by phone Monday, Ambrose reaffirmed the situation was a simple misunderstanding. "We took care of it within one hour" after he became aware there was a problem in early January, Ambrose said. "It was cleared up. "We felt there was a misunderstanding, a miscommunication," Ambrose said. "It's not like the AD walked off with the money." Campbell said Monday he was glad his name has been cleared. "As I said all along, I didn't do anything wrong," he said. "Everyone's so quick to make you guilty until proven innocent." Campbell and Vigilante confirmed Valley senior Brian Rayburg will receive the $1,000 scholarship. The district will pay the hotel bill. Other e-mails provided by Vigilante indicate four students applied for the scholarship, but two were not eligible because they did not play basketball both their junior and senior years. That is a scholarship criteria in addition to academic performance. Campbell and Ambrose explained the students don't receive the money until after their first semester of college. They submit their college grades to tournament officials to prove their attendance and continued academic prowess. The money then is sent directly to their college in the student's name; the students never handle the money themselves. Campbell said Valley player Naseem Choudhry received the scholarship last year. Ambrose said this was the second year in which the tournament offered $1,000 scholarships to scholar-athletes from each of the eight boys and four girls teams that participate. Previously, the award was $500. Campbell said this was the second year Valley participated in the C.J. Betters Tournament. He said they previously competed in an Indiana County tournament, but opted to play in the Beaver competition because they encountered more teams outside their section.
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