AUGUSTA

Lee Academy has been placed on probation for two years by the Maine Principals’ Association for violations of that organization’s athletic recruitment policy involving inducements to student-athletes attending the school.

The probation became effective Oct. 9 in the aftermath of an investigation conducted in response to a complaint filed March 20 by fellow MPA member Dirigo High School of Dixfield.

The complaint was lodged not long after Dirigo played Lee Academy in the Class C boys basketball state championship game for the second straight year. Dirigo won the 2012 matchup 74-67 after Lee had defeated the Cougars 65-55 in the 2011 final.

MPA Executive Director Dick Durost acknowledged the investigation emphasized Lee Academy’s boys undergraduate basketball program, which has featured significant contributions from dormitory students in recent years, but he added that all athletic programs at the independent school were scrutinized during the investigation.

Durost would not elaborate on the nature of any specific inducements involved, though he did say, “Private and some public schools are expected to recruit students, but they are not expected to provide inducements for athletes to attend their schools.”

And while Durost said officials from both Lee Academy and Dirigo accepted the findings of a three-person hearing panel of MPA principals that investigated the complaint, Lee Academy Headmaster Bruce Lindberg maintained his school’s innocence.

“First of all, we don’t agree that we’ve done anything wrong,” Lindberg said. “We operate as a private school,and private schools have to function differently than a public school does.

“But we are going to respect the decision of the MPA committee; we’ll file the appropriate information, and we know we’re on probation.”

As part of the probation, Lee Academy was tasked within 60 days of the panel’s findings to “develop and provide the MPA with written policies that will describe in detail the admissions process at Lee Academy including the roles and shared responsibilities of (if applicable) the headmaster, admissions director, guidance department and others.