Seven players suspended after failing polygraph test

The Associated Press

DUNLAP, Ill. -- Seven Dunlap High football players accused of attending a party where alcohol was served failed a lie detector test and will be suspended from the team for the rest of the season, just in time for the state playoffs.

Officials said three other athletes -- two football players and a soccer player -- passed a polygraph examination and will not face punishment. The pair of football players will be eligible for Saturday's Class 4A state playoff game against Addison Driscoll and any additional games.

Dunlap's athletics policy forbids drinking or attending parties where alcohol is present; violations are punishable by suspension from competition.

Dunlap Community School District Unit 323 Superintendent Bill Collier said Monday that the punishments are a consequence of breaking the rules, but the polygraph tests were needed to ensure honesty. He said many of the students who failed the test had lied to their parents.

"If it (dishonesty) starts at this young age it will likely only get worse," he said.

Matt Jones, an attorney representing the students and their parents, did not rule out the possibility of future legal action against the district but said almost everyone involved was satisfied the polygraph examinations were fair.

Initially, 15 athletes were accused of attending the Oct. 7 party. Three students admitted guilt and were suspended. Two others refused to take a polygraph and were punished, Collier said.

The district's policy mandates anyone found violating the rules will be suspended for the balance of the current season and, if they play another sport, a third of the next season. Collier said some of the punished football players also play a second sport and will be suspended for the first third of that season.

He said some of the punished athletes do not play football and will miss the first third of their season when their sport begins.

Collier would not say how much the polygraph tests cost, but said the district volunteered to pay part of the expense with parents picking up the rest.

Jones said one of the disciplined students was not satisfied with the process, but has not decided whether to take further action. He said the only legal avenue left to the students and their parents is a challenge of the athletics policy itself.

Parents of the disciplined students want their children to work off violations through community service rather than suspensions, Jones said.

"Community service, where you put a little sweat equity into it and have to think about what you did, is a way in which the kids learn something," he said.

Dunlap is about 12 miles north of Peoria.