CIF Won’t Punish Laguna High for Gift : Issue of $3,000 Given Ex-Coach by Boosters to Be Dropped

No disciplinary action will be recommended against Laguna Beach High School over an athletic booster club’s gift of $3,000 last summer to then-football coach Cedrick Hardman, the CIF’s athletics commissioner said Wednesday.

“I’m not going to recommend any sanctions because we have people involved who are no longer here. To have sanctions would be unfair to kids for the adults’ actions,” said Stan Thomas, athletics commissioner for the California Interscholastic Federation, after he met in a work session with the five trustees of Laguna Beach Unified School District.

Personnel Who Have Left

Thomas was referring to district and school personnel who have left the district, including the former superintendent, high school principal, athletic director and football coach. Their departures were unrelated to the investigation.

“I consider the issue closed,” Thomas said in an interview after the meeting.

The football booster club raised $3,000 and gave it to Hardman last summer for coaching athletic workshops.

The commissioner’s decision came after trustees admitted “serious” violations, according to Thomas, involving improper cash bonuses to coaches in other sports as well. Some of those bonuses were in $250 amounts by boosters as early as 1984.

Paying money to a coach without going through a school board or student government is a violation of CIF rules, Thomas has said in the past, because “otherwise affluent communities could give a lot of money to coaches that no one would know about.”

The commissioner’s decision was made at a critical time for trustees, three of whom are facing a recall election stemming from a controversial vote to reinstate Hardman, after his September, 1986, arrest for cocaine possession. Hardman later resigned and is no longer associated with the district.

Effect on Recall Unclear

The effect of Thomas’ decision on the recall movement was unclear Wednesday. The school board is expected to schedule the recall election for a day between Aug. 22 and Sept. 28 at its meeting May 26.

Attempts to contact recall leaders were unsuccessful late Wednesday.

Hardman’s reinstatement to a volunteer coaching situation prompted intense objections by community residents who said it sent “the wrong message about drugs to the students.”

The recall group has targeted school board president Charlene Ragatz, who voted to reinstate Hardman and was active in booster club activities last summer, Carl Schwarz and Janet Vickers.

A fourth board member, Susan Mas, who also voted to let Hardman continue coaching, was initially targeted for recall but was dropped from consideration after she said publicly she regretted her vote.

Harry Bithell, the fifth board member, had voted against Hardman’s reinstatement.

In an interview before the meeting, Thomas said he was aware of the Hardman situation, the recall drive and the politics involved. But at the meeting he told trustees that the CIF’s interest was the success of the high school’s athletic program.

Stern Warning Given

Thomas also gave trustees and booster organizers a stern warning:

“In the future, if you have any other serious violations, I will have your superintendent and the high school principal invited to the (CIF’s Southern Section) executive committee to explain. If we don’t get realistic answers or there is a lack of cooperation, disciplinary actions could range from a slap on the wrist or suspension from CIF activities.”

District Supt. Dennis Smith admitted the district “was derelict” in overseeing the booster club’s financial controls.

“We will clean up our act. We will,” Smith said.

Dave DePierro, Laguna Beach High School Booster Club president, said the club intends to stop cash bonuses and change its bylaws, which Thomas said were deficient in the area of financial controls.

“If we’re guilty, we’re guilty of not knowing the rules,” said DePierro, who admitted that he saw the CIF’s rule book for the first time on Wednesday.

Ragatz defended the actions of trustees and boosters for following the CIF’s rules “as we knew them.”

During the meeting, Ragatz took several opportunities to quote from a June, 1985, memo from a CIF official that said cash gifts could be given to coaches.

But Thomas’ opinions differed from that 1985 opinion.

As commissioner, Thomas essentially is the equivalent of a judge, and his interpretation on CIF guidelines affects 500 high schools, including Laguna Beach, in the CIF’s Southern Section.

When trustee Schwarz admitted he personally collected money in years past then offered cash to another athletic coach, Thomas immediately said, “That’s improper.”

The commissioner then recommended that trustees allow the superintendent and high school principal, David Wheeler, greater participation and responsibility in the booster club.

Hardman, 38, a former All-Pro player with the San Francisco 49ers, became an assistant football coach in 1984 and was named head coach in 1985. The Laguna Beach High School Artists began winning football games.

But in September, 1986, police stopped Hardman on Laguna Canyon Road, reportedly for erratic driving. The arresting officers said Hardman--a 6-foot-3, 245-pound former defensive end--struggled and they sprayed Mace at him. In his car, police reportedly found 5.5 grams of cocaine. He was charged with misdemeanor resisting arrest and felony possession of cocaine.

Hardman had previously been arrested on March, 29, 1985, on suspicion of possessing less than an ounce of marijuana, a misdemeanor.

A judge agreed to drop the cocaine charge if Hardman completes a drug diversion program that he and the court agreed to on Oct. 24.

Hardman is awaiting a June 17 court date to update his progress in the drug program and face the resisting arrest charge.