Emails show 3 athletes faced removal from school following hazing incident at Viera High
Nearly two and a half months after a filmed hazing incident at Viera High School, the official results of an investigation are still pending.
Emails, obtained through a records request by FLORIDA TODAY, shed some light on how the initial incident was handled.
In the days after the August hazing incident became public, the BPS chief of schools and the superintendent exchanged emails on how to handle both the students who participated and those who incited the incident.
Parents reached out to express concerns, with some questioning if enough was being done, while others encouraged the district to swiftly reinstate the football season.
Three students were removed from school and placed in an alternative learning center. The team completed an anti-hazing course. And at least one of the athletes, who was seen in the video pinned on the ground as team members attempted to pull his pants off, has left the school and quit football. His family has hired a lawyer and says they plan to press charges.
While the district carried out its own investigation, they have not released it, saying it was exempt from public records. It's also not yet clear what was found in the Brevard County Sheriff's Office investigation, which is now in the hands of the state attorney.
Other aspects also remain unclear, including how many athletes were hazed, with emails sometimes referencing one athlete and others referencing two. In the video, which shows Hawk Nation football team members simulating sexual acts with one another, one athlete can be seen on the floor, while another was pinned against a wall.
Brevard Public Schools Superintendent Mark Rendell asked an administrator to reach out to at least one family about counseling. That student's family held a press conference in September, during which their attorney said they would press for criminal charges.
A spokesperson for the state attorney's office declined to comment on the status of the case, saying juvenile cases not involving felony crimes are confidential.
Here's what we know.
Three students charged with hazing
Brevard County Sheriff's Office estimated the incident may have occurred Aug. 14 in a Facebook post to their page, though none of the emails released to FLORIDA TODAY clarified the exact date it took place. A video of the incident was posted online during the weekend of Aug. 19, prompting public outcry, and on Aug. 20, Rendell announced the temporary suspension of all football activities at Viera High. The suspension was short-lived, with activities resuming within days and games suspended for a week.
On Aug. 21, BCSO said on Facebook that an investigation had been opened.
At that point, the district was discussing what actions to take prior to Rendell's announcement, with an Aug. 18 email from chief of schools James Rehmer discussing steps to be taken with Rendell. Rehmer proposed that students who were "inciters" would return to school on dates decided by Viera High, with possible restrictions placed on their team activities based on their involvement. For students who were "offenders," there would be an administrative hearing and a possible placement at the Alternative Learning Center, which is an alternative to expulsion.
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Rehmer also said head coach Shane Staples would create a supervision schedule to submit to administration for approval, and that students involved in the incident would issue an apology to the victim and the team. Staples was later removed from his position as head coach, though he remains at the school as a teacher.
Aug. 26, Rendell sent an email to board members, telling them that Viera High administrators held a meeting with three students charged with hazing, during which they recommended placing them at an Alternative Learning Center in lieu of expelling them. The families had the option to either enroll at an ALC or choose another option, like homeschooling.
In the past, the length of a referral to an ALC was impacted by the offense and the date of the offense, said Russell Bruhn, spokesperson for the district. However, this year, students sent to an ALC generally remain there for the length of a semester, though if an incident occurs in the second quarter of the year, the student will stay at an ALC for the remainder of the year.
"This change was made in an effort to give students at the ALC stability to get the academic and behavior attention they need," Bruhn said.
Mixed response from community
The school district received a mix of feedback from the community immediately following the hazing incident. Some called for the swift reinstatement of football related activities, while others expressed concerns about transparency and whether the board was taking harsh enough action.
Several parents of Viera High football team members and members of other athletic teams reached out, though all said their children weren't involved in the incident.
One parent of a child on the junior varsity football team said her son told her about the incident and had been attempting to "hang back" from the older boys, as he feared a similar incident — labeled a "mock raping" in the email — would happen to him.
"Please know we've had a wonderful experience so far with both our boys ... and the school," the parent said. "This is just concerning."
A father of a football player, who said he "ultimately wanted the boys to get back to playing football," questioned the speed at which football activities were reinstated in a series of emails between him and school board chair Matt Susin, saying it was "bad optics."
"I am brand new to the program so I don't know what the culture is," he wrote. "That's why I was relying on an investigation to help reassure me that the culture was a positive one."
Susin told him that Rendell and Legate were in charge of the investigation and communication with the school community, and that he would ensure that parents were kept up-to-date.
Two community members alleged that similar behaviors have been taking place for several years, with one person writing that actions having "recently escalated to the level in which they turn off the lights and the victims are having their clothes forcefully removed and then jumped/humped viciously by a gang of upperclassmen."
Their emails continued with an allegation that not all football players were interviewed during the investigative process.
FLORIDA TODAY was unable to obtain the district's investigation into the incident, with Bruhn saying that it was "focused solely on student discipline" and was exempt from public records requests.
BCSO investigation completed, but no updates
Todd Brown, spokesperson for State Attorney Phil Archer's office, said the office had received BCSO's completed investigation, though he didn't say when. He said he could not offer any "comment, status or disposition info" because the case involved juveniles and no felonies.
The Florida High School Athletic Association received an allegation against Viera High related to the incident, according to an Aug. 18 email. Staff with FHSAA determined that the issues were "school- and/or district-based and do not violate FHSAA regulations."
Similarly, the Florida Attorney General's Office received a complaint from a Viera resident about the incident and Susin's handling of concerns, according to an Aug. 24 email. The concern was forwarded to Florida Department of Children and Families, BCSO, Florida Department of Education's Office of Safe Schools, Rendell, and BPS' ethics hotline.
On Sept. 6, the family of one of the athletes who had been hazed held a press conference with attorney Anthony Thomas. At the time, they disclosed that their son — whom FLORIDA TODAY is choosing not to identify — had switched schools and was no longer playing football because of the incident.
Thomas said the family is encouraging the state attorney's office to file charges.
Finch Walker is the education reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Walker at 321-290-4744 or fwalker@floridatoday.com. X: @_finchwalker.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: What's the status on Viera High's hazing incident? Here's what we know
