INDIANAPOLIS -- Football is no longer a varsity sport at three Indianapolis Public Schools high schools.

Superintendent Dr. Eugene White said he cut the teams at Marshall, Manual and Washington high schools because they weren't legitimate football programs, but the move stirred vocal opposition, 6News' Rick Hightower reported.

"I really believe they're tearing at the neighborhood fiber when they destroy an athletic program like that," said Joe Purichia, a former standout athlete at Washington High School. "One of the things that bothers me is they talk about the 87 percent graduation rate of football players, and yet they're going to take away a program that has a high graduation rate."

White said the district will no longer settle for mediocrity in its football program, and that is the underlying reason for his decision to do away with the sport at the three schools. The decision was made without a school board vote.

"When you have one small team, that's not a program and that's mediocre, and the records reflect it," White said. "We're not doing that anymore."

A National Football League grant recently awarded to IPS improved football facilities with the installation of new goalposts, a scoreboard, benches and other items.

"The Colts have honored us by spending $50,000 to help with our football facilities," said parent Loren Sprowl, who urged the board to take a stand against the decision.

Another grant from USA Football was going to be used to buy new pads and other equipment. That money will now likely go to middle school squads.

Jack Hensley, president of Washington's alumni, reminisced about the school's sports history, which includes several state championship banners, trophies and footballs.

"I'm afraid morale at the school is going to take a tumble with the loss of the football program," Hensley said.

White said Washington's principal will become the new athletic director and football coach at Arsenal Tech High School.

The superintendent said he would like to build a program that can compete with football powerhouses such as Carmel, Center Grove, Warren Central and Ben Davis and that he tired of teams that went out every Friday with no chance of winning.

Students who still want to play will be bussed to other schools to do so.

White said he had given the schools five years to turn the programs around and they didn't. The decision will be reevaluated in three years.