Oasis high school in Cape Coral will have to forfeit three football games after one of their student-athletes played while being ineligible.
Those games were against Lakeland Christian High School, St. John Neumann High School, and Bonita Springs High School.
On Friday, Oasis High School sent a letter to the Florida High School Athletic Association to appeal the forfeits and any potential fines.
On Wednesday, the FHSAA informed the school that they would not be accepting the appeal.
In the letter, drafted with the help of the city attorney, Oasis High School stated that without notice, the School District of Lee County stopped sending schools the list of academically ineligible students.
The letter also stated that the School District of Lee County had to recalculate student grades on September 30, 2019.
Oasis High School says they did not have the proper information to track that the student was ineligible to play since the three forfeited games happened before the recalculation.
The School District of Lee County says they have never provided schools with lists of academically ineligible students, adding that the FHSAA handbook states it's the GPA at the end of the semester before the fall sports season begins that would impact the student's eligibility to play.
Lee County School District also says the grades were recalculated in September when the End of Course exams were factored in.
In the letter drafted to the FHSAA, Oasis High School says the ineligible student had transferred to Oasis High School mid year of the 2018-2019 school year and had completed three semesters worth of course work during summer school to increase his GPA and become eligible to play.
The School District of Lee County says it's the new school's responsibility to request the academic records of the student from the previous school.
In an email, Oasis High School informed parents that the appeal had not been accepted by the FHSAA, furthermore they cannot move any further in the appeal process.
