BANGOR, Maine — Some members of the Bangor High School football team are under investigation by school officials for an incident this week involving possible disciplinary violations.
No specifics about the incident were offered Friday by Paul Butler, the school principal, or athletic administrator Steve Vanidestine, as the investigation is not yet complete.
Vanidestine said Bangor football heach coach Mark Hackett first notified him of the incident Thursday night.
“Coach Hackett reported an incident to me, and that incident is under investigation,” said Vanidestine late Friday afternoon, shortly before the Rams were to play their annual homecoming game against Oxford Hills of South Paris at Cameron Stadium. “The investigation is ongoing, and I’m confident we’re going to get to the bottom of it early next week so that we can move on with whatever decisions we find.
“The incident was reported, the investigation is taking place and going on by policy with the assistant principals, the administration, coach Hackett and myself,” he said. “When we get the complete investigation done, we will report our findings, but obviously we want to do a really solid job of making sure we have all the information, all the facts, before we do anything. At this time, that’s as far as we’ve got.”
Vanidestine said no disciplinary action has been taken yet against any student-athletes pending the outcome of the investigation, which he said would continue Monday.
“Coach Hackett has always been in charge of who plays unless there’s a person suspended, and we have not suspended anybody at this stage because the investigation is not complete,” said Vanidestine.
“I know this, we’re all supportive of our school policies and the intent of those policies, and we will support whatever findings we find, but due process needs to take place, and it needs to be accurate, and it needs to be timely.”
Butler declined to categorize the reported incident Friday afternoon, saying the investigation still is in the fact-finding stage and that more interviews needed to be conducted Monday before any conclusions could be drawn.
In Friday night’s game, Hackett sat down 10 players, mostly starters, who are the subject of the investigation of an apparent locker room incident.
Oxford Hills went on to shut out Bangor 18-0.
The Rams are slated to begin postseason play next weekend.
