Parents of Cheltenham High School football players demanded answers and transparency at a school board meeting Tuesday.
The demands come after an alleged locker room assault, believed to be part of a hazing incident, led the district to cancel the high school football season just hours before the senior night game in October.
“We had so much planned for them,” said Nesha Hodge, a parent who said her son knew nothing about the incident until after the fact. “To have all this taken away from him on senior night was terrible.”
The case has sparked two investigations — one by the Cheltenham Township Police Department and another by the school district — both of which remain ongoing. Parents say they were left in the dark for weeks and want clarity on when officials first learned of the allegations and how the investigations are being handled.
Several families told CBS News Philadelphia that some players were questioned as early as September about the reported assault but that parents weren’t notified until Oct. 17 — more than a month later. That same day, the district canceled the team’s senior night football game just hours before kickoff. Two days later, the rest of the season was canceled.
Hodge said she found out when her 17-year-old son called to say the game was off — and he didn’t know why.
Hodge said she later learned the district had already launched an investigation — potentially involving Title IX violations and hazing — after reports that multiple students assaulted another student in the locker room in September. Hodge says she doesn’t take the alleged incident lightly.
“If that was my child, and he told me something happened like that, oh I would be in an uproar,” she said.
But she and other parents believe the late notification unfairly implicated the entire team.
“[The district] lost our trust,” Hodge said in an interview an hour before the meeting. “What security did [they] have for our kids after this? It went rampant on social media.”
Superintendent Brian Scriven addressed the incident before the public comment period began, apologizing for previously saying the matter involved only one student, clarifying that it concerns “the safety of all students.”
“For that, I do need to publicly apologize,” he said, adding that he values the perspectives shared and will reflect and take action once the investigations conclude.
But parents said the damage has already been done. Naim Ferguson said his son, the team’s quarterback, was not in the locker room at the time but has faced backlash.
“We now have to move some of our kids from the district,” Ferguson said, adding that all players are being harmfully labeled.
Another parent, Tony Ezell, said college recruiters are now questioning players.
“A bunch of young men are having to face questions regarding Title IX violations and hazing at different colleges around the U.S.,” he said. “This caused irreparable damage.”
Parent Yvonne Montgomery urged the district to be as vocal in clearing innocent players’ names as it was in announcing the allegations.
“Are you going to be just as loud and proud as you were on Oct. 17 when you told the world they were guilty?” she asked.
Scriven said the district will take additional steps once the findings from the independent investigators are complete.
Cheltenham Township Police told CBS News Philadelphia they have no comment at this time, confirming only that their investigation is ongoing.