Track Coach To Quit Amid Threat Of Litigation From Parents

MANCHESTER — Popular Central High School track coach Kelly Fox appears ready to resign, as parents of two of her student-athletes have taken steps to sue the Manchester school district over the way they say Fox treated their children.

In a letter dated Tuesday, Fox told parents and friends that she submitted a letter of resignation on Friday. But Fox said she will meet with the administration and the school district attorney at the end of the school year to discuss issues with the track program.

“It seems as though if I continuing (sic) coaching at Central I will not have the ability to repremand (sic) ALL the athletes on my team due to it being called retaliation,” Fox wrote in the letter.

Last fall, Fox was placed on leave while district officials investigated allegations made by two athletes, Elizabeth and Alexandra Conway.

She was reinstated after an outpouring of support from other track athletes and their parents.

The Conways, however, are continuing to push the matter.

In a writ filed in Hillsborough County Superior Court, the Conways say that Fox “threatened, reprimanded, verbally harassed, and sometimes physically accosted Elizabeth and Alexandra.”

They said the behavior violated state laws against bullying, and the Conways suffered retaliation in a number of forms once the district started to investigate Fox.

The claim is made in a 22-page writ of summons (click to view), which was filed recently in Hillsborough County Superior Court. It names the Manchester school district, Manchester school board and board member Joe Briggs as defendants. It asks for a jury trial.

The paperwork said the plaintiffs suffer from anxiety, mental anguish, distress, disappointment, embarrassment, grief, indignation, public humiliation, hatred and ridicule. It asks for compensatory and enhanced compensatory damage as well as attorney fees and any other costs. The filing against Briggs claims defamation of character. Briggs’ lawyer, Joe Kelly Levasseur, said he received the claims this week.

He called the complaint “ridiculous and unfounded.” He called it an attempt through legal intimidation to stop elected officials from looking into constituent complaints.

“When the good people of Manchester learn the facts of this case and the relentless unconventional behavior engaged in by Mrs. Conway over the years, the will understand why Joe Briggs had no other choice but to stand up for his constituents and Central’s track coach,” Levasseur said.

Efforts to reach Michael Conway last night were unsuccessful. A female answering the telephone at their Walnut Street home said nothing had been filed, but discontinued the conversation.

Superintendent Tom Brennan said lawyers with the district and the Conways have been involved in conversations, but no official lawsuit has been filed that he knows of.

“Whatever it is, I was hoping we’d be able to resolve it,” Brennan said.

“In my opinion, I think we’ve followed the rules and the policies set forth, as well as the law,” Brennan said.

Claims in the suit include:

— The Conways met five times with the school superintendent, four times with Central Principal John Rist and twice with Athletic Director Jane Clayton before Elizabeth mentioned Fox’s behavior to Mayor Ted Gatsas. Gatsas relayed her concerns to Brennan, the superintendent started an investigation and said Fox’s behavior could be construed as bullying.

— Fox retaliated by threatening a lawsuit against the Conways and asked for an apology.

— During an Oct. 4 meeting with track parents, Clayton encouraged retaliatory behavior by letting parents say they were behind Fox 200 percent and they want her returned as soon as possible.

— The school district took no action against employees on an email list of a parent group in support of Fox. The group specifically wrote about how to retaliate against and bully the Conway children.

— An unnamed English teacher and friend of Fox claimed that “Elizabeth (Conway) has no consequences.”

“The only reasonable inference from this teacher’s communication is that she wanted the retaliation — that she knew about — to continue or, worse, to escalate.”

— The parent group had shirts made that read “I run for COACH FOX.”

Rist instructed the students not to wear them, but they later wore them at an awards ceremony, as did parents of team members and a school district employee.