Cheerleading Tryouts Were Fair, High School Officials Say

School district officials say a review of the varsity cheerleading tryouts found no unfair treatment of the 11 junior-varsity cheerleaders who failed to make the Irvine High School squad.

Parents accused the school of deliberately filling the varsity team with sophomores because of differences between the juniors and the cheerleading squad advisor.

Only one member of the junior varsity team, a sophomore, made the 1996-97 varsity squad at the March 15 tryouts.

“I conducted a thorough investigation into all aspects of their concerns,” Dennis Smith, superintendent of the Irvine Unified School District, said Friday. “Every aspect of the cheerleading tryouts took place in an appropriate and impartial manner and followed district procedures.”

Irvine High School Principal Gail Richards said the cheerleading advisor did not take part in the selection process for the varsity team. Four judges from the Universal Cheerleading Assn., a national group that runs summer cheerleading camps, scored performances by 70 girls competing for the 16-member team, Richards said.

But parent Todd Garrison said the school district’s investigation did not review all allegations made by parents, who are requesting a meeting with school board members.

“We believe there is room for error, because the advisor took the score sheets home with her, which is against the policy,” Garrison said.

This was the first test of a new school district policy on cheerleader tryouts, which might need further revision, Smith said.

“This was based on who does the best job in that one snapshot in time,” he said. “That’s the way it came out.”