Parents at Hawkins retain attorney in dispute with LAUSD, City Section

Attorney Robert Glassman said Sunday he has been retained by parents at Los Angeles Hawkins to represent them in an ongoing dispute with the City Section and Los Angeles Unified School District that threatens the football team’s placement in the City Section Division II playoffs.

A hearing has been scheduled for Tuesday by the City Section’s Board of Managers to review possible sanctions against Hawkins after City Section and LAUSD investigations allegedly found improprieties in the program, City Section Commissioner John Aguirre said.

Glassman has experience in dealing with CIF issues. He once represented a student from Santa Ana Mater Dei in a transfer dispute and also represented basketball player Marvin Bagley III of Sierra Canyon after he transferred from Arizona and was ruled ineligible. Glassman said he wants the hearing delayed and plans to seek a temporary restraining order in Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday morning if his request is denied by Aguirre.

Hawkins is 11-0 and scheduled to play Grant in a Division II semifinal on Friday.

By getting an attorney involved, supporters of Hawkins are now in a precarious position. Hawkins is part of the LAUSD, which controls the administrators and coaches at the school, and it’s an LAUSD investigation by the athletics office that is being challenged.

The fact Hawkins is already on probation by the City Section for earlier violations that resulted in the team being ineligible for the 2015 playoffs means severe sanctions could be handed down.

Glassman said, “I think a lot of the allegations pertain to things that happened years ago.”

Hawkins has had more than 40 football transfer students over the last three years. It has a number of players being recruited by colleges.

In email sent to Aguirre, Glassman requests a continuance of the hearing until after the Thanksgiving holiday.

UPDATES:

11:55 a.m.: This story and headline updated to reflect the attorney saying he has been retained only by parents.

This post originally published at 10:10 a.m.