Cheltenham cancels 2026 varsity, JV football seasons after locker room assault
Superintendent Brian Scriven said investigations into a locker room assault last season that was witnessed by about 20 students need to "run their course."
The Cheltenham Township School District announced Tuesday that it had canceled the 2026 varsity and junior varsity football seasons, saying more work was needed to reset the program after a locker room assault last September.
“After careful consideration, a difficult decision has been made to cancel the varsity and junior varsity football programs for the 2026 season,” Superintendent Brian Scriven said in a message to the community Tuesday.
The district needs to complete “several critical tasks” before resuming the programs, Scriven said, but cannot move forward while internal and external investigations are still ongoing.
Cheltenham canceled last year’s football season in October amid hazing allegations. The district said in January that an external investigation had found that about 20 students witnessed a Sept. 3 student-on-student assault in the football locker room and did nothing to stop it; several “participated freely,” and some filmed it, Scriven said in a January message.
The investigation also found there was insufficient supervision of students by the coaching staff, and a “toxic and negative culture” in the football program, according to Scriven.
At the time, Scriven said the district needed to take certain steps before restarting the program, including hiring new coaching staff, formalizing supervision and incident-reporting protocols, and producing training materials around standards of conduct for student-athletes.
On Tuesday, Scriven said the district was unable to plan for a 2026 season while investigations were still underway.
“The district cannot build a path forward around unknowns,” the superintendent said. “The scope and nature of what must be addressed will be determined by the evidence, and that process must be allowed to run its course before any meaningful next steps can be taken.”
It wasn’t immediately clear Tuesday what investigations were not yet completed. In January, Scriven said there were several “student-specific Title IX and disciplinary matters” in progress, as well as investigations by the Cheltenham Township Police and Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office.
A district spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday on the ongoing investigations.
The district previously denied a Right-to-Know request by The Inquirer seeking the findings from the external investigation that was completed in January; the district cited the portion of Pennsylvania’s Right-to-Know law that exempts records of noncriminal investigations from public disclosure.
While the varsity and junior varsity programs are canceled, Cheltenham will field a ninth-grade football team next year, Scriven said Tuesday. Students with questions about transfer protocols, meanwhile, should contact the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association, the superintendent said.
He also said the district will “begin exploring opportunities to work with coaches and advisors more intentionally to ensure pep band, drumline, color guard, and cheerleading continue to have opportunities to compete and proudly represent Cheltenham High School.”
The district “recognizes that this uncertainty is difficult for students, families, and staff,” Scriven said, and “wraparound support services will be available to anyone who needs them” through the end of the school year, along with licensed counselors.
“We encourage anyone who is feeling the weight of this to reach out,” Scriven said.
