What I saw at the team meal
I was volunteering to serve the varsity team meal. For anyone who doesn't know, that meal is a special occasion for football players. We served 70 boys dinner. 100% of them said “thank you” and “yes sir.” These are good boys.
Suddenly, I found three players not just crying, but sobbing. Something was terribly wrong. These are physically imposing young men. They are tough. And they were devastated.
This hurts our boys, our team, and our community. Reinstate these boys. Let them play. Bring our pack back together.
— Jim Stewart, King football parent
Two seniors. One junior. One team.
#7 and #19 are seniors. #7 plays tight end and defensive end. #19 plays fullback and middle linebacker. They don't get this season back. They don't get Friday nights back. They don't get Senior Night, or one last walk off the field with the teammates they grew up with.
#20 is a junior, a running back and defensive back. He should be building toward his senior year with this team, not wondering whether he still has a school.
#7, our tight end and defensive end, is being recruited to play college football. College coaches are watching senior film right now. This decision ends his high school career, and it could cost him his shot at the next level.
These are not newcomers. These boys have been Wolves for years. Their older brothers and sisters walked the same halls and graduated from King. These are King families, and King is their home.
These boys didn't just lose a spot on a roster. Overnight they lost their school, their team, and their brothers in the locker room. The district made that call alone. Their families got no warning and no chance to make it right. If it can happen to them, it can happen to any of our kids.
Our letter to the RUSD Board
To the Riverside Unified School District Board of Education,
We are King High families, students, alumni, and neighbors. Three varsity football players, two of them seniors, were unenrolled from King High School and removed from the Wolves with no notice to their families. The district initiated this on its own on a Friday afternoon, just before the first league game of the season, and has given the families no reason and no explanation. These students have attended King for years, and their older siblings attended King before them. We are asking the Board to act.
We ask the Board to
- Bring them back now. Re-enroll the three players and restore their eligibility immediately. Time is of the essence: the season is being played right now, and every week they sit out is a week they never get back.
- Explain the decision in writing to the entire King community. We need facts, not “anonymous tips.” The district can explain how this was initiated and what process it followed without violating anyone’s privacy. Tell us how it started, what evidence was relied on, and the Board policy or regulation behind it.
- Guarantee due process. No student should be removed from their school without notice, a chance to respond, and a path to appeal.
And we ask the Board to answer
- How was this started? Was it an anonymous tip? Was there an investigation? If so, who started it, who conducted it, what was verified, and what did it find?
- Why was this done on a Friday afternoon, leaving families no time to respond before the first league game?
- How much notice were the parents given, and what chance did they have to fix the problem before their sons were removed?
- What is the district's process for unenrolling a student, and was it followed here?
- What protects every other King family? Is my child next to be removed with no notice?
- King High is in Trustee Area 1. Dr. Noemi Hernandez Alexander, as Board President and King's own trustee, what are you doing for these students and for King athletics?
Signed by the families, students, alumni, and supporters listed with this letter.
Add your name
We need your help to right a wrong
Removing these boys is wrong. Signing is the first step, but this community can only fix it if we speak up. If you know someone at the district, or anyone on the Board, now is the time to use that connection.
Know someone at RUSD?
A teacher, counselor, coach, principal, or anyone at the district office. Call or text them today. Ask: why were three varsity players, two of them seniors, unenrolled on a Friday afternoon with no notice and no reason? Send them this page.
Know a Board member?
Reach out personally. A call from someone they know matters more than a thousand emails. Ask them to bring these boys back now.
- Dr. Noemi Hernandez Alexander · Board President, Trustee Area 1 (King's trustee)
- Dr. Jesse Tweed · Vice President, Trustee Area 4
- Amanda Vickers · Board Clerk, Trustee Area 3
- Dale Kinnear · Trustee Area 2
- Brent Lee · Trustee Area 5
Contact the Board office
Beth Martin, Executive Assistant to the Board of Education
Emartin@riversideunified.org · (951) 788-7135, ext. 80417
Spread the word
Text this page to every King family, player, and alum you know. Post it in your team and parent groups.
Reinstate these boys.
Let them play.
Bring our pack back together.
Standing with the Wolves
Be the first to sign.