Members of Lewisville Cheer Team Accused of Drug Use
By OMAR VILLAFRANCA
Updated 11:30 PM CST, Mon, Aug 3, 2009
The Lewisville Independent School District is investigating allegations that several members of a coed cheer team had illegal drugs this weekend.
District officials said members of the Lewisville High School cheer and yell teams allegedly had Ecstasy and other drugs at a cheer clinic.
"We've been told there was an incident and there were some drugs involved. To the magnitude? We don't know. The specifics? We don't know," said Karen Permetti, a district spokeswoman.
The students were turned in by officials at an off-campus Denton County cheer clinic, Permetti confirmed. She said she didn't know exactly how many students were allegedly involved.
Lewisville High's principal has been alerted, Permetti said.
The names of the students were not released because the students are juveniles.
Lewisville ISD students have to sign an extracurricular code of conduct to join school-sponsored teams and clubs. The code states students can't use drugs, alcohol or tobacco and must behave and follow the rules on and off campus.
"We expect them to follow these rules, and if they don't, then they can be subject to being removed from the team," Permetti said.
The district does random drug tests on students, including cheerleaders. Permetti said that parents who think their children are using drugs can ask the district to test them.
Parents of Lewisville ISD students said any student involved in school-sponsored events should know better.
"They're representing Lewisville High School, so they should think what they're going to do before they do it," Marsha Thompson said.
One of her sons graduated last year, and she has another son in eighth grade.
"There's always repercussions for everything you do," Thompson said.
A parent and teacher who did not want to be identified said she thinks the rules are fair.
"They did sign the code and because of that, I'm in favor -- if they were guilty -- of (them) being kicked off the team or possibly being suspended," she said. "I'm completely in favor of that. It takes a village, and I like the school helping parent my child."
The Lewisville ISD also plans to investigate the cheer teams at Marcus High School and Flower Mound High School, because students from those schools were also at the cheer clinic.
First Published: Aug 3, 2009 10:20 PM CST
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