GREENSBORO — Guilford County Schools has widened its investigation into Northern Guilford High’s athletics program and is looking into whether money from several fundraisers and the school’s booster club may have been misappropriated.
On the day that most — but not all — nonfaculty coaches were allowed back on campus, investigators spent Wednesday afternoon at the school questioning football coach Johnny Roscoe and several of his assistant coaches about where football players lived, according to sources knowledgeable of the investigation.
Investigators also pressed for information about how money was raised and spent from an annual football fundraiser, according to sources. The sources asked not to be named because the school system’s investigation into Northern Guilford, now more than six months old, is ongoing.
Former boys basketball coach Stan Kowalewski said Wednesday night that investigators asked him earlier this month about fundraisers held by the basketball team and how that money was spent and managed.
“They wanted a better picture of how teams were handling capital and where it was being run through,” Kowalewski said.
“Some teams were running it through the booster club, some were running it through school accounts, some (through) checking accounts they had set up for themselves. It was a mess.”
Kowalewski said he was confident that money generated from the basketball program’s fundraisers has been managed properly.
He said the club has greatly improved accounting for revenue since becoming a charitable organization last year.
Since announcing last month it is investigating Northern’s athletics program, school system officials have maintained they were focusing on student eligibility.
Wednesday’s revelation is the first indication that investigators are looking into potential misappropriation of funds.
School system officials could not be reached for comment Wednesday night.
Football coach Roscoe, who has not spoken publicly about the probe since officials went public with the investigation April 10, did not return phone calls seeking comment — nor did officers with the Nighthawks Athletic Boosters Club.
The inquiry into the football team came on the same day that most nonfaculty coaches learned they could return to the school.
Interim principal Pat Spicer mailed letters earlier this week to the coaches, informing them that all but the school’s nonfaculty football coaches could return to the school.
Schools Superintendent Maurice “Mo” Green said last month he imposed the ban to keep “certain coaches” from impeding the investigation.
Guilford County Schools announced last week that Northern Guilford’s athletics program used five students in four sports and cheerleading who were ineligible because they lived outside the school’s attendance zone.
Two of those students played for the boys basketball team, an infraction that led the North Carolina High School Athletic Association to strip the Nighthawks of their state basketball title.
The baseball team also used two ineligible players, resulting in the team having to forfeit all its victories, as well as a berth in the state tournament. The wrestling team and junior varsity softball team also forfeited wins.
Contact Robert Bell at 373-7055 or robert.bell@news-record.com
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