UPDATE: Superintendent Responds to Dropped Case

The two Zanesville High School families that filed a lawsuit on behalf of their suspended children to play football have withdrawn the suit from the U.S. district court in Columbus.

Zanesville City Schools superintendent Terry Martin said the school district’s attorneys notified him on Wednesday evening that the plaintiffs dropped the case.

"I’m glad that this case is apparently over," said Martin.  "I just hope that normalcy will return quickly for both the football team and our community.  To me, that’s the most important thing to hope for."

Martin said he can’t speculate as to why the families filed a notice to dismiss the case.  Lauren Mainini, the mother of Josh Mainini, declined to comment, but Warren Howard, the father of Lucas Howard, said he will explain what happened after he speaks with his attorney.  Martin said he’s proud of his football staff for keeping the team on track.

"I think our coaching staff and many of the parents of the players work well together to not let this affect them in large part," said Martin.  "To say that it hasn’t affected them some would be a gross injustice, but I believe that due to strong leadership from our coaching staff, they’ve survived it well, and I look forward to them continuing to play well as a unit."

Howard and Mainini were suspended after a party on July 15th at the Howard home where school officials said alcohol was consumed and a teammate, Grant Hickman, was found dead the following morning.  The case was scheduled to be heard next Monday in federal court.  Martin said the players will serve the remaining two games of the five game suspension.