BOURBON COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — A Kentucky high school basketball player was put back on the team Monday after his removal from the team was taken to court.
The player had been taken off Bourbon County's team after controversy over a social media post that the school district called "racially insensitive."
His return to the team came after a complaint was filed in Bourbon County Circuit Court on his behalf, stating that the photo in question was taken three years ago and that the student in question was not the one who posted it. The complaint alleged that he was kicked off the team "without any investigation or due process."
The complaint also stated that while the student had been kicked off the basketball team, he was told he'd be allowed to start practice with the school's baseball team the following week.
The case was set to have an emergency hearing in court on Monday, and WCPO's sister station in Lexington, LEX 18, was in the courtroom when it was supposed to start. Instead, a clerk notified that the matter had been resolved between the parties, and the case had been sealed.
LEX 18 obtained a copy of the complaint before the case was sealed.
The photo, which shows one student kneeling on the neck of another, was reportedly posted to social media on February 2, the day of a scheduled basketball game between Bourbon County High School and Paris High School.
Both of the students in the photo were white. In the social media post of the picture, the words "black power" were added, and another user was tagged.
The game was canceled, and Bourbon County High School released a statement saying in part, "It was brought to the administration's attention Friday afternoon that a social media posting was racially insensitive, and as a result, it was decided between both district's coaches and administrations to cancel the Paris/Bourbon basketball game."
The post said the school would investigate what happened and "investigate appropriate consequences."
The student who was ultimately kicked off the Bourbon County basketball team was in the photo, but the court complaint stated he was not the one who posted it or added a caption to the post on Instagram.
A few days later, Bourbon County High School released another statement saying it had investigated and found that the photo was three years old and "was not posted by a Bourbon County High School student."
"The post was made on an Instagram account that is not identified by a specific user name and the identity of the individual who posted the photo remains unclear at this time," the school said in the statement. "Bourbon County High School absolutely will not tolerate any displays of racism or hate by any of its students and appropriate measures will be taken to hold any individuals accountable who fail to adhere to that expectation. BCHS will be swiftly implementing education and training to the entire student body to reiterate this zero-tolerance policy and impress upon students the impact their words and actions have on their fellow students, school, and community."
The court complaint alleged that a student at Paris High School had posted the photo, but Paris Independent Schools superintendent Stephen McCauley told LEX 18 Monday that the school system had investigated the matter and found no evidence it was posted by one of their students.
LEX 18 asked Bourbon County Schools superintendent Dr. Larry Begley to comment on Monday's hearing. He said he could only say that "there was a matter that was resolved to both parties' satisfaction," and the record has been sealed.
