news-record.com

The investigation into possible athletic improprieties at Northern Guilford High School already has claimed a heavy price. Principal Joe Yeager and Athletics Director Derrell Force resigned last week.

The damage will increase if Guilford County Schools doesn't make absolutely sure that rules are clearly drawn and fairly enforced. Two guiding principles must be observed:

* Academic concerns take priority over athletic interests.

* In athletic competition, no school should be allowed an improper advantage over others.

What rules, if any, might have been violated at Northern isn't known yet. Administrators are investigating athletic eligibility and other issues, the system said in a news release. That potentially covers a lot of ground, including the transfer of athletes from outside Northern's attendance zone or skirting academic standards.

The N.C. High School Athletic Association and State Board of Education maintain detailed rules governing athletic eligibility. The rules prohibit recruiting athletes, spell out academic requirements and cover residency issues. GCS is responsible for enforcing compliance throughout the district.

The mission is complicated by the system's policy of encouraging students to apply for transfers to schools that offer unique academic programs. The policy can be abused by families whose real interest is sports. As long as the student meets all academic requirements for transfer and eligibility, however, he shouldn't be denied just because he happens to be an outstanding quarterback and the school is a football power. It's another matter if the coach violated recruiting rules in prompting the transfer.

The school board's governance committee is looking at eligibility issues, two members said Tuesday. It also might consider new rules, such as:

* Making transfer students sit out for a year before they're allowed to participate in sports.

* Only allowing full-time faculty members to coach.

* Prohibiting high school or middle school coaches from coaching the same athletes in AAU competition.

Those measures would de-emphasize athletics and cut off a pipeline sometimes used to funnel athletes from selective AAU teams to high schools. They also could penalize students and coaches who haven't done anything wrong. School officials have to be careful they don't cause more damage in a rush to fix problems.

Getting to the bottom of the trouble at Northern is essential. If clear violations of rules are discovered, maybe the rules themselves aren't the problem. The question, then, would be whether rules are clearly spelled out and consistently enforced. Yeager and Force weren't newcomers to GCS. They should have been well aware of the rules. What happened to bring them to these circumstances?

The sooner the answers are known, the better chance there will be to restore the right priorities.