Sheriff's Office investigating South Walton High; football coach absent from Jay game
October 14, 2010 10:50 PM
Travis Downey and Adam Pruiett
Daily News
UPDATE ? South Walton High School football coach David Barron is not at tonight's game at Jay.
Charlie Marello is the acting coach.
No more details concerning the investigation were available.
Read an earlier version of the story
SANTA ROSA BEACH ? The coaching status of South Walton High School football coach David Barron for tonight?s game at Jay is uncertain.
Barron didn?t attend Thursday morning?s practice and it was unclear whether he would be manning the sidelines tonight. Barron declined comment on Thursday.
South Walton High School officials wouldn?t comment on his absence at practice or say whether he would coach the Seahawks against Jay. When reached for comment, Walton County Superintendent of Schools Carlene Anderson would only say that ?an employee is under investigation,? and declined to speak specifically as to exactly which employee was at the center of the investigation.
Maj. Graham Fountain with the Walton County Sheriff?s Office confirmed that it, too, was involved in a separate, but related, investigation involving South Walton High. According to Fountain, the ongoing investigation involved interviewing witnesses consisting of individuals on the South Walton staff as well as ?football players.?
?I know the school system has reassigned the employee that the accusations were made against, pending the outcome of the investigation,? Fountain said.
A Florida High School Athletic Association official said Thursday that the FHSAA had no ongoing investigation into the South Walton football program.
Barron, who has been the head coach at South Walton for six seasons, was named the Daily News small school Coach of the Year following the 2008 campaign. South Walton captured its first-ever district title and won the program?s first-ever playoff game before ending the year with a 9-3 record.
The Seahawks earned their second straight playoff berth last season ? the first time in school history they made consecutive postseason appearances ? and finished with an 8-3 record. South Walton is 3-3 this season, including 2-3 in District 1-A play.