At the end of the year, they get the awards too.
"No different in any community where the athletes are privileged.....to cut class, fail tests, be disruptive to teachers, ignore the coaches rules."
When I taught for a particular district in upstate New York, athletes were well behaved. Our coaches would bench them in a heartbeat if a teacher reported poor classroom grades or behavior. It was when the season was over they became a problem. Things have changed for the worse since then, but our principal was also hard core.