February 18, 2004
Hales Franciscan High School dropped its lawsuit against the Illinois High School Association (IHSA).
William Owens, Chairman of the Hales Franciscan Board of Trustees, announced the withdrawal of the school's suit challenging the IHSA's suspension of Hales from the Class A state basketball tournament.
"The Association's judgment has caused the Hales community much concern, but it has led us to this decision. We acknowledge our mistakes and errors in judgment. We recognize that the IHSA represents all of its member schools and must enforce its rules uniformly. Therefore, we will devote our full attention to correcting our mistakes so that we may be in compliance with the IHSA and that our students may be eligible for the Class A tournament in the next academic year," Owens said.
"IHSA commends Hales' decision today. We look forward to working with Hales to ensure its eligibility in the upcoming academic year," said Dr. Martin Hickman, Executive Director of the IHSA.
Hales Franciscan and its head basketball coach were cited by IHSA following an investigation of comments made by the coach after the IHSA Class A Boys Basketball State Finals in Peoria last year, which Hales won. Hales has so far failed to win approval by IHSA of steps taken to cure the problems.
"Henceforward, we will work with IHSA every step of the way back to compliance," Owens said. "This is the best way to put this matter behind us."