Inside Myers Park’s decision to self-report violations and forfeit a football season
Robert Folk’s first day as Myers Park High’s new principal was Jan. 3. Less than two weeks later, he found himself in his first crisis.
A tip from a parent led to an investigation into the school’s football team that revealed several players were illegally attending the school. Folk self-reported it to the N.C. High School Athletic Association, which ruled Myers Park would pay nearly $7,000 in fines and returned playoff monies. The Mustangs also had to forfeit all of their games, which included winning a share of a conference championship last fall.
The news, which dropped Tuesday when Folk sent a letter to parents, rocked the local high school community.
Wednesday afternoon, in an exclusive interview with The Observer, Folk provided insight into his decision-making process and why he reported the violation.
“I lead with integrity,” he said, “and it was the right thing to do. And I cannot be a principal and lead a school where there is any question of deception or any question of wrongdoing.”
Folk was named principal at the school in November, replacing Mark Bosco who was reassigned to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools central offices several weeks prior. Bosco had previously been suspended in August following complaints from students that the school mishandled reports of sexual assault and harassment over a period of several years.
Folk had been principal of one of Myers Park’s feeder schools, Alexander Graham Middle, since 2010. He has been in education since starting as a teacher at Providence High in 1990. His father, Chris Folk, worked for CMS for nearly 40 years before he retired in 1992. Chris Folk was a CMS spokesperson in the 1970s when the district was desegregating. He died in 2010 and CMS named an administrative building for him seven years later.
The meeting and the aftermath
Robert Folk said that on Jan. 14, a parent from the football team came to him with damaging information: Several players on the Mustangs conference championship football team were not legally attending Myers Park High School.
Folk quickly began his own investigation, which he said was aided by CMS and that it lasted a few weeks. State rules require student-athletes to live in the school zone to which they are assigned, though there are some charter and non-boarding parochial schools that do not have designated attendance zones.
“I really wanted to make sure,” he said, “that I had all my facts and information, and I wanted to be fair, you know, to everyone involved.”
Folk declined to give an exact number of players who should not have been allowed to attend the school, but said it was more than one. He said all players involved will face a stiff penalty.
“I can’t say what grade they are,” Folk said, “that would be a problem. But I can tell you that yes, the players involved would not be eligible for athletics for 365 days anywhere in the state.”
For a current senior, that would only be for the remainder of the school year, but for an underclassmen, that would mean missing the 2022 football season.
Folk said in each case, a parent or guardian had intentionally turned in eligibility paperwork that made it seem as if the player was in the Myers Park attendance zone, even though he was not. And when Myers Park officials went through the paperwork, Folk said, it appeared to be correct.
Folk said that’s why Myers Park appealed the NCHSAA’s initial ruling to make them forfeit the games, pay a $250 fine and return $6,700 of playoff monies.
He said he felt like Myers Park officials had done their due diligence in checking the paperwork and that the school had not intentionally used ineligible players. The appeal was denied by the NCHSAA’s Board of Directors.
“The enrollment and eligibility paperwork was in place,” Folk said. “It just happened to be fraudulent. It was falsified by a parent or guardian.”
What’s next for Myers Park?
Folk believes Myers Park isn’t the only school dealing with these issues.
“I think this does occur at high schools across our state,” he said. “How many? How often? I have no idea. But I do think this does occur, and I question whether schools are self-reporting or not.
“I think that coaches, athletic directors and principals need to make a decision that all practices are going to be ethical; all practices are going to be held with integrity, and if things do happen — like our (situation) that was unintentional — that those same coaches, athletic directors and principals self-report to the state and there is a process in place at the state to hear those appeals.”
Folk will now turn his attention to hiring a new football coach.
After one season with the Mustangs, Curtis Fuller resigned earlier this month to take a college job in Texas. Fuller was the Mustangs’ third coach in the past three seasons, following Mark Harman, who was named interim coach at Myers Park during the spring 2021 season.
Harman got the job just one week before that season began, after longtime coach Scott Chadwick left to take a job as an assistant coach at the University of Maryland. From 2014-2020, Chadwick built the Mustangs into a national power. His last four teams were 48-7 and included an appearance in the state semifinals.
Following Chadwick, Harman led the Mustangs to a 9-1 record and a berth in the N.C. 4AA state semifinals, which matched the deepest playoff run of any Mustangs team in school history.
Fuller’s team was 8-4 last season, before the forfeits, and lost in the second round of the playoffs.
Folk said the football opening is attracting plenty of attention and he’s hoping to have a new coach in place by June with interviews starting next month.
“I’m excited to hire a new head football coach,” Folk said. “(I am) looking for someone who is committed to building a program, committed to staying with the program long term. And committed, you know, to working with young athletes and developing those young athletes for life, and certainly for other athletic opportunities.”
This story was originally published March 30, 2022 at 6:35 PM.
