9 high school kids get busted with roids.

Mother: School didn't act on steroid tip

District says she wasn't specific; admitted users won't be disciplined

10:32 AM CST on Saturday, February 5, 2005

By GARY JACOBSON and GREGG JONES Staff Writers / The Dallas Morning News

COLLEYVILLE – The mother who set in motion a steroid investigation at Colleyville Heritage High School said she gave administrators detailed information last September, including the name of a football player who was taking the banned drugs.

MICHAEL AINSWORTH/DMN
Colleyville Heritage fans at a basketball game in Haltom City on Friday were wary of talking about the steroid inquiry. She told The Dallas Morning News on Friday that school officials never asked to interview her son, a Heritage athlete, even after she told assistant principal Ted Beal that her son had admitted using steroids he bought from a football player and described extensive steroid use by team members.

"I told them they had a steroid problem, they needed to investigate it," the mother said in an e-mail response to questions. "And the response from Mr. Beal three hours later was 'I talked with ... [football coach Chris] Cunningham and he said no, they do not have any players on steroids."

Robin McClure, the district spokeswoman, on Thursday acknowledged steroid use at Heritage but suggested the investigation had been hampered when the mother declined "to provide specific information."

Ms. McClure said Friday that the admitted steroid users wouldn't be disciplined because their drug use occurred last year and away from school property.

Grapevine-Colleyville school district officials disclosed Thursday that nine Heritage students had admitted using the banned muscle-building drugs. The district made the admission in response to questions from The News, which has conducted a four-month investigation of steroids in high schools.

District officials said the investigation stemmed from a phone call from an anonymous parent – the Colleyville mother interviewed several times by The News beginning in October. The mother and her son spoke to The News on the condition that their names not be revealed because they feared retaliation. The mother called the school after discovering a vial of anabolic steroids in her son's bedroom closet.

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"We would still be very eager to get more information from the mother and son," Ms. McClure said Friday.

Ms. McClure said the district has expanded its investigation to other schools in the district. Coaches have been asked to step up their efforts to talk to athletes about the dangers of steroids and to encourage users to come forward, she said.

"The boundary for using steroids doesn't stop with Heritage High School," she said.

Anabolic steroids, which are illegal to possess without a doctor's prescription, can cause liver damage, tumors, depression and suicidal thoughts, and other side effects.

Officials' comments

In their comments, school officials have characterized the steroid use by the nine students as limited to a "brief" period last spring. They also described the supplier of the steroids as "an adult source" outside the school.

But the Heritage athlete interviewed extensively by The News said he bought steroids from a senior football player last spring. He said the football player was supplying steroids to other Heritage athletes. He also said he believed the football player was getting the steroids from an adult.

Activist Don Hooton of Plano said Friday that the steroid use at Heritage was probably much more widespread and ongoing. Mr. Hooton formed the Taylor Hooton Foundation to raise awareness about youth steroid abuse after his son, a Plano West baseball player, abused steroids before committing suicide in July 2003.

"It would be extremely naive to believe that steroid use was limited to nine kids and one six-week period last year at a high school the size of Colleyville," Mr. Hooton said.

He noted that typical steroid use involves taking the drugs for several weeks and then "cycling" off for a period of time before using them again.

Mr. Hooton said he would deliver a steroid awareness seminar at Heritage on Feb. 24 at the invitation of Mr. Cunningham.

"The coach said they were going to use the gymnasium instead of the auditorium because they expected such a large crowd," said Mr. Hooton.

School officials told The News on Thursday that they informed law enforcement authorities about the adult who was allegedly selling steroids to students. Ms. McClure said Friday that the district's deputy superintendent had spoken with Colleyville Police Chief Tommy Ingram about the issue as recently as Thursday.

But Detective Hillary Wreay, one of Colleyville's lead investigators, said the Police Department wasn't investigating. The district's contact with the chief was probably a courtesy call, she said, because there wasn't a formal police report logged into the department's computer system.

Chief Ingram "didn't instruct us to do anything on this, because there's no report," she said. "They [district officials] wouldn't have made a report through the chief."

She said Chief Ingram was unavailable Friday.

Ms. McClure said that the district had alerted the University Interscholastic League about the steroid use.

Charles Breithaupt, UIL athletic director, said the governing body would take a hard look at the problem.

"We will not stick our heads in the sand," Dr. Breithaupt said. "We will aggressively look at our options, and we will listen closely." Those options could include statewide steroid testing if schools asked for such a program, he said.

Coach defended

Some Heritage parents, players and former players rallied to the defense of Mr. Cunningham on Friday.

"I think ... [steroid use] happens at the majority of 4A and 5A high schools in the state," said Joe Quinn, 24, who played at Heritage under Mr. Cunningham from 1997 to 1999.

Mr. Quinn, now a student at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, said he feared that school officials would make his former coach a scapegoat.

"Chris Cunningham is an honest man, a good man," Mr. Quinn said. "I'm sure he didn't have any knowledge or involvement or would have condoned that for any reason."

Grapevine-Colleyville ISD board members who were reached for comment declined to discuss specifics of the investigation and referred questions to Ms. McClure.

Three board members said they had learned about the athletes' admissions Thursday as district administrators prepared responses to the newspaper's inquiries.

School board President John Eubanks said he was disappointed and added that the revelations have "probably opened our eyes" to the situation.

"Clearly, the use of steroids seems to be a growing problem," said Mr. Eubanks, a Colleyville resident.

Among Heritage students and parents, the steroid use was the talk of the day. Reporters and television news crews hovered outside the school during much of the day.

"You have every high school in the district doing it," said junior Hilary O'Brien, a girls soccer player. "We're just not surprised."

Friday night, most Heritage fans attending the boys basketball game at Haltom City were wary of reporters and the spotlight focused on their school.

One Colleyville parent praised the district's response. "I think the big thing is what they're trying to do now – education," said Doug Williams, whose son Robert is a sophomore in the football program and a student manager for the basketball team.

"I don't think there's an easy answer," he said. "It's the same thing as sex, drugs and drinking. Kids are going to experiment ... talk to your kids."