MANSFIELD — The Ohio High School Athletic Association fined Mansfield Senior High School $10,000 in October, just 10 days after athletic director Kevin Porter was placed on paid administrative leave.
Mansfield Senior incurred the fine after an ineligible high school athlete was permitted to compete in multiple, regular-season football games.
Both the school district and the OHSAA confirmed that a quarter of the fine was later waived.
Supt. Stan Jefferson said he became aware of an athletic eligibility issue in the district’s football program near the end of the fall season. He also said the district has cooperated fully with the OHSAA.
“The OHSAA reduced the fine to $7,500 when the District presented a corrective action plan that included procedures and training aimed at preventing ineligibility issues from occurring in the future,” Jefferson wrote in an email.
“We appreciate (he) OHSAA’s cooperation to resolve this issue and to assist the District in otherwise identifying cost-savings related to site-changes during the playoffs.”
Why the fine?
Tim Stried of the Ohio High School Athletic Association confirmed that Mansfield City Schools was fined $10,000 for allowing an ineligible athlete to compete in the 2023-2024 football season.
According to Stried, a varsity student-athlete transferred to Mansfield Senior last school year after playing several regular-season football games for his former school.
Richland Source is not naming the player as he is a juvenile.
According to OHSAA bylaws, the student-athlete had to sit out the first four games of the 2023-2024 season to finish fulfilling his “transfer consequence.” Stried said the player would have regained eligibility in the fifth game of the season.
However, the school instead permitted him to play in the first five games of the season and began holding him out for the second half of the 2023 regular season.
Stried said the OHSAA initially issued forfeitures for two of the first four regular-season games the student participated in, but the district appealed the ruling.
The OHSAA Appeals Panel ultimately overturned the forfeitures and decided Mansfield City Schools would be allowed to shift the student’s “period of ineligibility” to games six through nine of the 2023-2024 regular season.
Stried said the district was fined in accordance with OHSAA Bylaw 4-1-1, which allows the organization to subject schools to additional penalties in the case of administrative error.
“The Executive Director’s Office may waive $2,500 of the fine contingent upon Mansfield Senior providing the Executive Director’s Office with proof of internal corrective measures being implemented related to the review of student eligibility,” Stried said.
“I can confirm that Mansfield Senior High School has met the corrective action plan deadline that reduces the fine.”
Porter remains on administrative leave
Director of Personnel Mark Wilcheck Schools confirmed last week that athletic director Kevin Porter is still on paid administrative leave.
Porter was placed on paid administrative leave on Oct. 13, according to a letter in his personnel file. The letter cites a pending investigation and potential disciplinary action.
“We are still in the middle of discussions and an investigation,” Wilcheck said. “We hope to have it resolved by the end of December. That’s our goal.”
Wilcheck declined to comment on the reason for the district’s investigation, but said the district is not considering any criminal charges.
“There was no criminal activity that transpired at all, no illegal activity,” Wilcheck said.
Porter is still coordinating activities and using his district email address while assigned at home, Wilcheck confirmed.
“He is still working behind-the-scenes,” said Wilcheck, the district’s director of personnel.
Wilcheck said some of Porter’s duties have been absorbed by other staff members and that the district does have “some extra help.”
The board of education approved two supplemental contracts with former athletic director Laurie Romano at its Nov. 21 meeting. Romano received supplemental contracts totaling $3,569 to serve as assistant athletic director for the fall and winter seasons.
Romano retired as Mansfield City School’s athletic director in the spring of 2014, according to previous Richland Source reporting.
Richland Source requested comment from Porter via his school email address, but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
Personnel file contained recent reprimands, glowing review
Porter was hired as the Athletic Director for Mansfield City Schools in the summer of 2019. His three-year contract included a starting salary of $92,300.
In an evaluation form from May 2022, high school principal Robert McQuate gave Porter top ratings in every category and wrote “NA” in a column for “deficient areas requiring performance improvement.”
“Mr. Porter is invaluable to the district,” McQuate wrote in the form. “He is professional, timely in the completion of his duties, his knowledge of all things athletic is above average.”
Porter’s personnel file also contained two written reprimands, both issued in the last six months.
In a letter dated Aug. 9, 2023, McQuate wrote that Porter was insubordinate and violated a board of education staff ethics policy to “recognize the basic dignities of all individuals with whom they interact in the performance of duties.”
The letter cited “multiple issues” that lead to the reprimand.
Those included:
— a conversation between Porter and a board-employed contractor regarding the Arlin Field scoreboard.
— Porter opening Pete Henry Gymnasium prior to the allowed date of Aug. 1.
— a disagreement between Porter and multiple maintenance staff regarding the opening of the gym.
Another letter dated Oct. 4 issued a written reprimand from McQuate after a facility use permit was not in place for an Oct. 3 boys’ soccer game at Arlin Field.