High school cancels remainder of baseball season after players protest coach's firing amid Title VI investigation

A Florida high school has canceled the remaining six games of its baseball season after players walked out in protest of the firing of their head coach.

Fort Myers High School Principal Robert Butz sent an email to the parents of the team’s players to inform them that the season had been interrupted.

“After meeting with all varsity baseball families and evaluating our options for the remainder of the season, I must inform you that I have made the decision to cancel the remainder of our regular baseball season and district play,” Butz wrote. .

“It was not an easy decision to make, but the current state of our team and coaching staff does not offer a viable path for the rest of the season.”

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Fort Myers High School canceled the remainder of its baseball season amid a Title VI investigation. (FoxNews)

The team has been mired in controversy since February, when assistant coach Alex Carcioppolo allegedly used a racial slur when referring to his players in a team group chat. He allegedly wished the team a “Happy Valentine’s Day”, followed by the N-word, and was removed from his position two days later.

The Lee County School District launched a Title VI investigation against the team on March 8. Title VI of the Civil Rights Act “prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin in any program or activity that receives federal or other federal funds.” financial assistance.”

On April 5, head coach Kyle Burchfield, though still a social studies teacher at the school, was removed from his position with the team.

Fox 4 Southwest Florida notes that he was dismissed “due to the integrity of the investigation.” The day after Burchfield’s removal, team members came out in protest during a game against Estero High School, which resulted in a loss.

The school was also fined $500 for unsportsmanlike conduct after its athletic director, Steve Cato, reported the incident.

The MLB logo on batting practice balls before a game between the Peoria Javelinas and the Mesa Solar Sox at Sloan Park on September 21, 2019 in Mesa, Arizona. (Jill Weisleder/MLB Photos via Getty Images)

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“We are still trying to identify all the players and coaches involved,” Cato wrote to the FHSAA. “We had 5-6 players that remained on the field and on the bench to play the game, but without enough to continue, we had to lose the game.”

Cato wrote that the strike was due to an “ongoing situation within the baseball program.”

Some families allege that the strike was focused on the team’s black players.

“No member of the black team was informed about the strike. Therefore, they couldn’t participate,” Dee Tucker, a father of one player, told WINK news in Fort Myers. “It was planned just so that two black children were left behind. This is 100% premeditated and malicious.”