Civil or criminal action could still be taken against Lawrence High School seniors involved in the hazing of sophomores, Supt. Randy Weseman said Monday.

He said district staff reported to Lawrence Police information uncovered while sorting out details of a late-night gathering the first weekend of May in which seniors paddled sophomores as part of an initiation. Sixteen seniors accused of hazing were ordered to serve a two-day “supervised suspension” either at home under direction of parents or at school while monitored by school staff.

“We did contact authorities,” Weseman told the Lawrence school board. “I think there are still consequences available.”

The superintendent said the district’s ability to act had been hampered because the hazing occurred off district property.

In addition, he said, investigation of allegations proved difficult because students and parents with firsthand knowledge either built a wall of silence around the facts or declined to make their own complaints to law enforcement.

Board member Austin Turney said he had been among people who defended hazing as a harmless tradition. He said it resembled the attitude of folks who defended the “Southern way of life” in the past.

But, Turney said, the most troubling comment came from LHS seniors who suggested they participated in hazing to get back for indignities they suffered two years ago as sophomores.

That kind of thinking perpetuates a cycle of abuse, he said.

Weseman said he would still consider the matter even if police didn’t investigate or if prosecutors didn’t file charges related to hazing.

A parent advisory board will be formed to help the district determine appropriate orientation practices that don’t involve potentially dangerous practices, he said.

Weseman said that group should bring a plan to the school board this fall and that it ought to be in place by April 2003.

“We are going to work as a community to solve this problem,” he said. “We consider it a process of education.”