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Willis ISD football coach relieved of duties
A football coach with the Willis Independent School District was relieved of duties after several students had blisters on their hands following an activity.
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Texas - Willis ISD has relieved a teacher of their coaching after an activity left students with blisters on their hands.
The district did not confirm the name of the coach, but said they are investigating the incident that happened Wednesday at Brabham Middle School in Willis.
Community members contacted FOX 26 after receiving an email from the coach, apologizing for what happened. In the email, the coach says the athletes were told multiple times to be quiet and stay in place while team photos were being taken. They write that at the end of the practice, the entire team did 100 yards of bear crawls. Some of the players then complained about their hands hurting.
The district said in a statement that they are, "conducting an investigation regarding the incident, and the issue will be handled internally as it is a personnel issue."
The statement also said that the district, "sincerely regrets when any student is injured at school. We want our parents and community to be assured that the safety and well-being of our students are always our primary concern."
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Willis ISD is a public school district in Montgomery County, Texas. It has over 8,000 students.
Full statement from the district:
Willis ISD can confirm that a teacher has been relieved of coaching duties after an activity left students with blisters on their hands. The district is conducting an investigation regarding the incident, and the issue will be handled internally as it is a personnel issue. We sincerely regret when any student is injured at school. We want our parents and community to be assured that the safety and well-being of our students are always our primary concern.
- Jamie Fails, Director of Communications
On Sunday afternoon, the school district released another statement:
Willis ISD would like to address some questions that have arisen regarding the incident at Brabham last week. During our investigation, the teacher asked to be relieved of his coaching duties in order to fully focus on his family and his core assignment teaching math. The district did not fire him, nor did we ask him to resign. We ask that you please grant him privacy at this time.