Two members of the Gary Common Council said Tuesday they want municipal officials to help Thea Bowman Leadership Academy in challenging the Indiana High School Athletic Association's two-year suspension of all athletic programs because of infractions found in the school's basketball program.

Council members LaVetta Sparks-Wade, D-6th, and Michael Protho, D-2nd, said they think it is wrong to penalize all student athletes at Bowman by preventing their teams from competing for state tournaments and championships through 2018.

“I don't feel that all sports should be suspended,” Sparks-Wade said. “Why should a volleyball player or a football player be penalized because of something the basketball team may have done?”

On Friday, citing 11 violations, the IHSAA ruled that Bowman sports teams would be ineligible for postseason play through the 2017-18 school year. Most of the violations centered around transfers that weren't completed properly or using players who were ineligible.

Bowman officials met with IHSAA staff Jan. 9. It also removed all the players who were not in compliance from the team when infractions were discovered. The charter school was in the process of forfeiting several games when the IHSAA handed down its punishment.

“The ultimate example is being made out of Thea Bowman,” Principal Sarita Stevens said Friday. “That is a tragedy. I look at in a positive way. The opportunity is that we can create a program of the highest compliance.”

The school started the investigation after boys basketball coach Migel Nunnery was fired Dec. 9. Nunnery was dismissed when Bowman officials discovered Dajour Britt had played in a game Nov. 26 against Indianapolis Tindley before he had enrolled at the school. Other violations included players with falsified addresses, players with no eligibility and players without the minimum number of classes.

Stevens said the school had not decided if it would appeal the decision.

“This is not a fair ruling at all,” Sparks-Wade said, adding, “We (the council) stand by Thea Bowman.”

Protho, a former coach in the Gary Community School Corp., said he thinks a two-year penalty for Bowman athletics is too long a time period. He said school officials already had penalized the basketball coach in question.

Sparks-Wade said she'd like to see some sort of statement, even if just a nonbinding resolution, expressing Common Council support for the school. Council President Ronald Brewer did not comment on the issue or on Sparks-Wade's stance, or what, if anything, the Common Council might do.

Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson was not available Tuesday night to comment.

Protho also was skeptical that much could be done by city officials to benefit Bowman. “I'd like to see us put something in writing, but I've been through dealings with the (IHSAA),” he said. “They usually don't want to hear what we think” about issues.

During the suspension that runs through the end of the 2017-18 academic year, athletic programs will continue to field teams and play their scheduled games. Teams will not be allowed to participate in tournaments or qualify for championships.

Sparks-Wade, who cited her own athletic accomplishments, said she thinks the student athletes at Bowman will be the ones who ultimately suffer, particularly younger students.

“You shouldn't punish your youngest for something wrong that your eldest child did,” she said.

Gregory Tejeda is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.