A St. Louis attorney hired by Springfield Public Schools to investigate if any Springfield Public Schools employees committed acts of racial discrimination against student Kylan Mabins concluded that Mabins' allegations are unsubstantiated.
Attorney Jennifer Hansen, of the firm Mickes O'Toole, reportedly interviewed several Kickapoo and Glendale high school employees. Hansen concluded in a Sept. 22 report she found no evidence of racial discrimination directed at Mabins by Springfield Public Schools employees.
“Only after the transfer to Glendale, and only when the issue of the student’s eligibility was raised, were these claims asserted,” said Stephen Hall, SPS spokesman, in a prepared statement.
“Any claim of discrimination and/or retaliation is unsubstantiated. In contrast, the record reveals careful guidance provided by SPS staff out of concern for the well-being of every student athlete impacted by this situation, as entire programs are subject to sanctions for willful violation of Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) guidelines. The report further vindicates SPS staff whose integrity and professional reputations have been unfairly targeted throughout this process.”
Hansen noted in her report that Kylan Mabins and his parents took the advice of their attorney and did not cooperate with her investigation into the family's allegations.
Hansen wrote:
“My findings are that the allegations made by the Mabins family of racial discrimination, hostile environment and retaliation are unsubstantiated. My reasoning is as follows:
“First, as a preliminary matter, the Mabins' decision not to participate in the investigation meant that I have not been able to ask them questions and obtain the answers required to identify, with specificity, each and every instance of conduct that they believe was discriminatory or in retaliation for Kylan Mabins' transfer to Glendale.
“Nor was I able to collect information regarding dates of each occurrence; whether or when those occurrences were reported; or to whom they were reported. Without the opportunity to collect facts directly from the Mabins family, I am unable to fully and completely investigate their claims.”
Kickapoo athletic director initiated challenge
Mabins was the starting quarterback at Kickapoo High the past two high school football seasons, 2021 and 2022. He transferred to Glendale in March 2023.
Kickapoo Athletic Director Scot Phillips contested Mabins' athletic eligibility with the Missouri State High School Activities Association after Mabins transferred. Phillips believed Mabins transferred due to undue influence by Glendale football coaches Mike Mauk and his son, Ben Mauk.
Mabins received quarterback instruction from Ben Mauk, a former college quarterback at Wake Forest University and the University of Cincinnati.
Mabins and his family said the transfer was because Kylan wanted to escape a toxic environment at Kickapoo that included racial microaggressions and homophobic comments made by Kickapoo football coaches.
Hansen confirmed that former Kickapoo coach Luke Miller once asked Mabins and a wide receiver on the team, who also is Black, if they were “lovers,” during a football practice.
The exact phrasing of what Miller said is not always word-for-word consistent in various accounts. The context of the remark was that Miller was trying to convince Mabins to not focus on only one receiver when throwing the football.
First time they heard of racial discrimination was after transfer
Hansen interviewed Kickapoo football head coach Nate Thomas, Kickapoo Athletic Director Phillips, Kickapoo Principal Bill Powers and Springfield Public Schools Athletic Director Joshua Scott.
All of them reported that the first they heard of any allegations of racial discrimination was when the Mabins made that charge after Kickapoo challenged the transfer. The SPS employees believe the real reason for the transfer was so Mabins could play quarterback his senior year at Glendale.
Sean Mabins, the father, countered that argument when he testified in a Springfield circuit courtroom last month. He said his son was on pace to set all-time passing records at Kickapoo had he stayed. If it were solely about football, Sean Mabins said, his son would have stayed at Kickapoo.
Mabins was declared ineligible to play at Glendale this fall three different times by MSHSAA, the nonprofit governing body of high school sports in Missouri.
After the third and final loss with MSHSAA, the Mabins family went to court. They won.
Greene County Circuit Judge issued a preliminary injunction that allowed Mabins to play while the full merits of the case were weighed in court.
Athletic director says Mabins family contacted superintendent before transfer
According to the report, Mabins family attorney Jay Kirksey made it clear to Hansen how he viewed her involvement in the case. Kirksey told Hansen that his clients, the Mabins, were in a legal dispute with SPS and MSHSAA and that he considered her to be part of the SPS legal team because SPS was paying her.
According to the report, Scott (the SPS athletic director) told Hansen (the St. Louis lawyer doing the investigation) that he believed the Mabins family had contacted Superintendent Grenita Lathan before Mabins transferred to Glendale in March.
Scott told the investigator Lathan asked him how a transfer from Kickapoo to Glendale would work.
According to the report: “Mr. Scott thought the call was strange so he contacted Mr. Phillips to ask if he knew anyone transferring.”
Phillips, who has a son on the Kickapoo football team, said there were rumors Mabins was going to transfer to Glendale.
Scott also said, according to the report, he had talked to Mike and Ben Mauk — as well at Maty Mauk, a former Mizzou quarterback and also a son of Mike Mauk — to review MSHSAA rules that affect how the Mauks reach out to and provide instruction to athletes outside Glendale's attendance boundary. Maty Mauk is also a Glendale football coach.
Those rules, Scott said, were reasons why in previous years:
- A Central High School basketball coach stopped coaching Amateur Athletic Union teams.
- A female basketball coach at Hillcrest stopped training anyone beyond seventh grade.
- A volleyball coach quit coaching AAU volleyball.
On Aug. 14, Springfield Public Schools removed Mike Mauk and Ben Mauk as football coaches at Glendale. Mike Mauk had been head coach since 2014, and Ben Mauk was the team's offensive coordinator. Maty Mauk is still on the Glendale coaching staff.
The Mauks' removal was due at least in part to the controversy surrounding the transfer of Kylan Mabins to Glendale.
It should be noted that Mike Mauk in 2021 filed an age discrimination lawsuit against SPS. It is pending.
Kirksey, who represents the Mabins family, is also Mike Mauk's attorney in the discrimination case.
