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Parents Defend Coach Accused Of Breaking School Policy

Posted at 10:02 PM, Aug 08, 2017
and last updated 2017-08-09 23:24:49-04

Did a high school coach break the rules by taking in cash on the side for extra training?

Williamson County Schools said volunteer Brentwood High School Assistant Cross Country Coach Guy Avery broke district rules by privately coaching some of his students.

Parents admitted some did pay Avery to privately coach their child beyond his work at Brentwood High -- as much as $400 a month, according to an internal investigation.

That's something Williamson County Schools said is "unethical" because it createed a "conflict of interest in which a parent feels obliged to pay a Williamson County Schools Employee for services" they've already committed to perform.

The school system also said Avery used the school's property to privately coach students -- also breaking school policy.

But several parents NewsChannel 5 spoke with said blame should really lie with the school principal and administration for not telling Avery about the rules.

"Because of their lack of knowledge of these policies, they brought our coach into a compromising situation, and he got all the blame for it," said Michael Sandifer, the father of a BHS Cross Country Athlete.

WCS said they did suspend the principal of Brentwood High School for one day without pay because administration knew or should have known violations of school policy were occurring and they did nothing to stop it.

The parents NewsChannel 5 spoke with said they have several complaints about how Williamson County Schools handled the situation.

Click here to read the Williamson County Schools letter to parents.

Click here to read the internal investigation into Guy Avery completed by Williamson County Schools.

Click here to read a detailed response to the investigation compiled by Sandifer, a parent of a Brentwood High School cross country student.