McCombs: It's best for all involved if Alina Hamilton-Clark resigns

Alina Hamilton-Clark should resign.

It's the right thing to do.

Hamilton-Clark serves on the Jasper County School District's Board of Trustees. Her son, DeAngelo Clark, is a wide receiver for Hilton Head Island High School.

You shouldn't need to read any further to see a problem.

According to the law, Hamilton-Clark must be a resident of the district she represents. And according to the S.C. High School League, DeAngelo Clark must be a resident of Hilton Head High's attendance zone to be eligible to compete for the Seahawks.

Common sense says both are not possible. But even if you ignore common sense, High School League rules dictate a family can only maintain one residence.

The High School League relies on school districts to determine residence for athletes like Clark, who transferred from Hilton Head Christian Academy. Outside of a form the family submits to the league, the onus is on the district to provide accurate information and guarantee a student really does live where he or she says.

The Clarks' form raised no red flags as far as the High School League was concerned. And when the question of Clark's eligibility arose in August, after whatever initial verification the district may have done, school officials physically verified the Clarks' address on Hilton Head Island.

At least for now, the Beaufort County School District is satisfied that the Clarks live on the island.

Gregory McCord, the director of student services for the Beaufort County School District, hasn't commented specifically on Clark's situation. But he has repeatedly said the district has a process by which it verifies residency and he is confident in the process and that it works.

It's easy to be cynical, but the district's satisfaction with Clark's residency, barring any evidence to the contrary, is really all that matters to the High School League. Unless someone has hard evidence the Clarks don't live on the island, there is no reason the league's opinion about Clark's eligibility will change.

And that's where everything is about to get muddy.

On Friday, Jasper County resident James Chisholm filed an official complaint to challenge the residency of Hamilton-Clark and her eligibility to serve on the school board. There will be a hearing on Monday of the Jasper County Board of Election, where the burden of proving Hamilton-Clark no longer lives in Jasper County falls on Chisholm.

Should Hamilton-Clark prevail in that hearing, it would mean a public body has found that Hamilton-Clark is a resident of Jasper County. At that point, the High School League wouldn't be able to ignore that a student-athlete claims residence in one county, while a parent and guardian he supposedly lives with has been found to legally reside in a neighboring county.

In all likelihood, DeAngelo Clark, regardless of where he lays his head at night and no matter where his family actually resides, would be declared ineligible. In fact, it's likely McCord and the Beaufort County School District would have no choice but to self-report the violation to the High School League.

I would argue that even if the hearing determined Hamilton-Clark didn't live in Jasper County, any sort of argument on her part that she did should make DeAngelo Clark ineligible. You can't have it both ways, at least not if you're telling the truth.

If DeAngelo Clark is found ineligible, Hilton Head Island High will be forced to forfeit its three wins. It will likely lose scrimmages next season in addition to paying a hefty fine.

These are Clark's teachers, teammates and friends. There are going to be some sore feelings.

Clark may be able to attend school at Hilton Head (residency for the district's purposes isn't defined quite the same as it is by the High School League), but athletics would no longer be an option.

One can only assume Hamilton-Clark made the move to Beaufort County to increase the opportunities for her son. But she could be the reason at least one of those opportunities is denied him.

If she lives in Jasper County, so be it. There are going to be consequences.

But if she doesn't, if Hamilton-Clark truly lives in Beaufort County, it would be best for all involved for her to step down.

This story was originally published September 16, 2014 at 10:07 PM with the headline "McCombs: It's best for all involved if Alina Hamilton-Clark resigns."