Coaches Cleared In Hazing Incident

Woodburn basketball coach Joel Dunn and his coaching staff have been cleared of any wrongdoing in regard to the hazing of four freshmen that resulted in the suspension of seven junior varsity players and their removal from the team.

Woodburn School District Superintendent David Bautista said in an e-mail Monday that the coaches "were not aware of the incident" and that once they heard of the hazing they immediately removed the students from the basketball team.

The players were accused of systematically seeking out four freshmen to bully and haze in four individual incidents before the Christmas break. School police affiliated with the Woodburn Police Department investigated.

Superintendent David Bautista said Thursday that the basketball coaches had to submit their supervision guidelines as part of the investigation to determine if the students had been under proper supervision. If negligence had been found, the coaches could have faced termination, Bautista said.

No such negligence was revealed.

The district has a no-tolerance policy against such bullying.

Bautista went on to state that all of the students involved were at Friday's varsity game against Corvallis cheering for the Woodburn team.

"Children are amazing in their power to forgive," Bautista said, "and I believe a period of reconciliation is at hand for this community and our students."

Dunn declined to comment on the incidents but said he was extremely proud of all the students at Woodburn and "we are going to continue to work very hard to produce a program that our school and community can be proud of."

-- Aaron Fentress