ELKHART COUNTY, Ind. (WOWO): Allegations of an inappropriate relationship with a student has resulted in a Concord High School girls' assistant junior varsity soccer coach being suspended.
A parent tipped off the school in late August after learning coach Emmy Gibson allegedly encouraged the student to violate the family curfew. That led to the discovery of possible wrong-doing. The school corporation has released a statement that says Gibson did not teach for the district. She was only employed as a soccer coach, in which she was suspended from that position and relieved of all coaching duties.
According to court documents, investigators interviewed the student and she confessed to sneaking out of her house to meet Gibson. She said the did not go beyond kissing and touching because Gibson was concerned about “getting into trouble” and wanted to wait until the student was 18 years old.
The following is a statement from Concord Community Schools:
Concord Community School Corporation commits to provide our students with a safe environment in which to grow and learn, including curricular, co-curricular and extra-curricular activities.
Concord Schools possesses rules and procedures designed to maximize the beneficial learning experiences we offer. All employees of Concord Schools are expected to conduct themselves lawfully and appropriately when interacting with students and parents. Concord Schools will not tolerate any lesser conduct.
Additionally, our staff is expected to work closely with parents and support reasonable rules imposed on the students by those parents.
No staff member, whether educator, support staff or coach, should encourage a student to disobey parental rules that are rational and do not interfere with a student's education. To do so, places Concord Schools at odds, for no legitimate reason, with a student's parents. Creation of that situation suits no one well and must be addressed and remedied by Concord Schools.
On Saturday, August 30, 2014, the Concord High School athletic department learned from a parent that one of our assistant coaches encouraged and assisted a student to violate reasonable curfew hours imposed by the student's family.
After receiving this information, Concord Schools immediately commenced an investigation, which ultimately disclosed that girls' junior varsity soccer coach, Emmy Gibson, encouraged and aided a student to ignore those reasonable family rules.
Ms. Gibson did not teach at Concord Schools and was employed only as a lay soccer coach.
Ms. Gibson was immediately suspended from that position and relieved of all coaching duties. Concord Schools also immediately commenced the process to cancel her coaching contact, and promptly submitted to the appropriate authorities all reports required by Indiana law.
Subsequently, the investigation conducted by the authorities disclosed that an inappropriate relationship may have existed between Ms. Gibson and a student. That matter is now being handled by the courts.
Concord Schools continues to focus on creating a positive learning experience for our-students and their families. Families remain a critical part of each student's academic success. Concord Schools will continue to work with and support families to advance our students' education.
Unfortunately, sometimes not all employees follow the rules designed to promote that experience. When those rules are violated, appropriate action will be taken. State and federal privacy laws prevent Concord Schools from commenting on this matter beyond this statement.
