After an outpouring of community support, the Region 4 School District is rescinding a resignation request it made recently of beloved teacher and coach Tim King.
More than 50 students, parents, and teachers demonstrated outside Deep River Town Hall on Sunday (watch Channel 3 coverage) urging that the request be rescinded, and more rallies had been planned.
Despite his role as an esteemed community figure in the Region 4 School District for thirty years, King has been asked to resign because of allegations that he helped organize a local independent football team that played this fall. Parents explained that they were the ones who organized the independent team and that King’s only involvement was as a spectator at a few practices and one game.
As of Monday evening, nearly 3,000 people had signed a Change.org petition to show solidarity with the physical education teacher and head football coach.
In a joint statement released Monday night, Superintendent Brian White and King wrote, “Through discussion, we have come to an understanding about the extent of the coach’s involvement in an independent team of Region 4 football players. Coach King does understand as a role model, the concerns about community perception regarding his involvement with this team. We both understand and accept that as educators and professionals we have a special responsibility to our students, staff and community during a pandemic and that we must place safety above all else. It is in this spirit, that the request for Coach King to resign from the position of head football coach has been rescinded.”
CEA UniServ Rep Gloria Dimon worked closely with King throughout the ordeal and supported him in conversations with the superintendent to ensure victory. CEA also worked closely with parents to engage in a letter writing campaign and helped plan rallies to support the coach.
Though this past week has been difficult for King, he has been left with no doubts about the positive impact he’s had on his community. Signers who commented on the online petition included students, former students, and players who say that King had a tremendous positive influence on their lives.
“Coach King was a major factor in me graduating Valley, without him there I would have dropped out,” one wrote. Another commented, “If there’s one man that would have a statue at Valley it’s Coach King. Not a single student can speak negatively of him not just as a football coach but as a teacher and person.”
