Montclair Prep Official Contests School’s Ouster

Alpha League officials voted unanimously this week to accept the “voluntary withdrawal” of Montclair Prep from the league, but Montclair Prep Principal V.E. Simpson says he wants his school to stay put.

Simpson learned of the league’s vote Tuesday but said that Montclair Prep was neither represented at Monday’s league meeting at Maranatha High nor was it invited.

“This is the first I’ve heard of it,” Simpson said. “We were never notified of any meeting. We want to stay in the league.”

The removal of Montclair Prep from the league would take effect for the two-year releaguing cycle that begins next fall and would need the approval of the Southern Section’s General Council.

Montclair Prep negotiated a deal Thursday with the Southern Section to reduce penalties levied against the school in April for recruiting violations in the football program. Originally, Montclair Prep was banned from the playoffs in all sports for this school year, and the football team was barred from the playoffs for two years.

However, after a key Southern Section witness against Montclair Prep recanted his testimony at a hearing two weeks ago, the school and Southern Section agreed to lift the playoff ban against the football team next year and allow the school to petition the section’s executive committee to remove the playoff ban for the rest of the athletic program this school year.

The deal allowed Alpha officials to examine Montclair Prep’s membership in the league. Reese Mitchell, Western Christian’s athletic director, said, “We would like to see them leave because we can’t compete with them. When you look at their kids, you see a run of Division I athletes. The rest of the league doesn’t have Division I kids. Naturally, you wonder where those kids are coming from.”