FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. — Just a day after Fairfax County Public Schools announced it was investigating text messages related to the recruiting of Hayfield Secondary School’s controversial football team, sources tell WUSA9 that the school activities director implicated in the text messages plans to resign.
FCPS tells WUSA9 that the activities director is still an employee at this time.
Hayfield is in the midst of a scandal around recruiting for its highly ranked football team, the Hayfield Hawks. It started when the Virginia High School League (VHSL) accused Hayfield of recruiting violations and banned the Hawks from postseason play for two years. Hayfield’s administration appealed twice unsuccessfully, and eventually the ban was overturned after parents filed a legal injunction. The Hawks were allowed back into the playoffs, but Monday, the school’s principal withdrew the Hawks from postseason play.
Among all of this, FCPS said they were investigating text messages revealed to them last week, which reportedly implicate the school in improper student recruitment efforts.
In the texts, Monty Fritts, Hayfield’s student activities director, and an unknown person appear to discuss bringing in Coach Darryl Overton from Freedom High School in Prince William County to Hayfield.
“These messages were obtained by our human resources department the next day, November 20, and we immediately began an inquiry into their authenticity and intent,” an FCPS spokesperson said in a statement.
The messages were sent prior to Hayfield hiring Overton as a coach.
In one exchange, the screenshots show Fritts saying, “I'm thinking of going supervillain and bringing Overton.”
In other messages in January, Fritts said, “My principal really wants Overton.”
The recipient then responds, “He'll get kids from other schools to play for ya! I'm not sure he'd get away with the same stuff in FCPS.”
Fritts is shown in screenshots replying, “There would need to be some change but if they are homeless nothing can happen.”
The text messages were first reported by Fairfax County Times, which also had other texts that showed the person replying, “True, just better to be homeless.”
Fritts follows up with three laughing emojis.
A school spokesperson didn’t mention the authenticity of the text messages, but according to board member Mateo Dunne, they’re real.
“It shows that there is a problem with the culture and that we need to make sure we institute a new code of conducts and training for our coaches,” Dunne told WUSA9 on Monday.
He’s concerned about how involved the individuals early on in the process when the school is accused of improperly recruiting 31 students from across the DMV, 14 from Overton’s former school.
Superintendent Dr. Michelle C. Reid has launched an external investigation.
However, Dunne and two other board members said this could’ve happened sooner. They released a joint statement calling for a comprehensive and independent investigation of all the student transfers, all of the residency and eligibility determinations, and how money was raised and spent.
They were in favor of an external investigation in late August, but the nine other board members voted it down.
“We believe FCPS did not act in a timely manner,” Dunne added.
WUSA9 reached out to all of the board members and Rachna Sizemore Heizer replied, “I made the decision based on the information I had, which was that VHSL had been continuing to declare players eligible to play at Hayfield and FCPS' internal review, the Auditor General review, and an external review did not reveal violations. I have always remained open to further review if circumstances or information changed, which is why I support Dr. Reid's plan for a comprehensive, external, and independent review.”
The rest of the school board members have released a statement saying they “strongly support Dr. Reid’s plan for a comprehensive, independent and external review of FCPS athletics and hope that VHSL and others will collaborate with us to address the issues before us.”
FCPS also added, “As part of the investigation, we are interviewing a number of staff members to make sure we are diligent in determining the facts regarding these new developments. We have committed throughout this situation that if any new information came to light, we would review it with a sense of urgency, while also ensuring that we are fair to everyone involved in this complex situation which has a significant impact on our student athletes, staff, and community. We will be making further statements as we are able.”