An attorney hired to investigate bullying at Ooltewah High School found a culture of bullying on the basketball team but not on the football team. Courtney Bullard, in a 24-page report, said there is “more good than bad” at Ooltewah High.
The school board authorized the intensive study after an incident last Dec. 23 in which three Ooltewah High boys basketball team members were charged with inserting a pool cue into the rectum of one freshman player, who was seriously injured.
The incident brought Supt. Rick Smith into scrutiny for an alleged lack of response to the crime, and he eventually resigned.
Attorney Bullard, of the firm of Spears, Moore, Rebman and Williams, said the county school system “has made significant efforts to combat bullying.”
She said Ooltewah High “has gone above and beyond the HCDE mandate in its efforts to combat bullying.”
The report did find that Ooltewah High basketball players were subjected to “the rack “ that was described as “upper classmen turning off the lights in the locker room, grabbing a freshman player and punching him with fists from the neck down, without the intention of causing injury.”
She was told that the older players would lock or block both locker room doors before turning the lights off.
Players said the purpose was to bring the younger players “into the big leagues.”
Attorney Bullard could find no incident in which a player was physically injured by the rack.
She said the main assailants in the rack were the three players charged in Gatlinburg.
Attorney Bullard said the “culture of bullying” on the OHS basketball team existed prior to the Gatlinburg incident, going back at least several seasons.
She said basketball coaches Andre Montgomery and Karl Williams would not cooperate with the probe, citing the fact they were facing criminal charges. She said Jesse Nayadley, athletic director who was also charged, cooperated fully.
She said most players spoke favorably of Montgomery and Williams, but she said Montgomery must have been aware of the racking because his office was right by the locker room.
The report says the two coaches “certainly were aware of excessive horseplay.”
It says, “It is undisputed that Mr. Montgomery and Mr. Williams had the best interests of the players at heart and that they took measures to address the horseplay.”
Concerning the trip to Gatlinburg, the report says the team arrived on Dec. 19. That evening, the four freshmen players were dunked in the hot tub by upperclassmen. The next day, two players were poked in the rectum over their clothing, and the following day it happened to another player. The incident in which the freshman was badly injured injured happened on Dec. 22.
The report says the coaches “took immediate action to identify and eliminate the hostile environment and address its effects once on notice.” The assailants were driven back to Chattanooga early the next morning.
Attorney Bullard said the pool cue incidents constituted bullying and sexual harassment.
She said OHS principal Jim Jarvis was the ultimate decision maker on letting the remainder of the team play a game after the player was injured. She said his decision was based largely on information he got from Jesse Nayadley.
The report says, “By not immediately contacting the families and in allowing the team to play, Mr. Jarvis and Mr. Nayadley failed to take appropriate measures to address the effects of the hazing, bullying and sexual harassment of the freshmen players.”
She said a number of basketball players were willing to speak with her, but few football players.