PLEASANT VIEW, Utah — Just before the new school year began, Weber High School's principal was placed on administrative leave over a complaint about how she handled recruiting violations at the school.
Chris Earnest was placed on leave on August 16 and as of August 31, her status remains unchanged.
The Weber School District released new details into why Earnest was put on leave, saying initially, it was discovered inappropriate recruiting was happening within the football program.
"The complaint alleged that one or more players had been recruited from the Davis School District by Weber High School assistant coaches," a release reads in part.
This much was confirmed by Weber School District Community Relations & Safety Specialist Lane Findlay.
"Allegation was that there were some coaches in that program that had been possibly involved in recruiting one of our students out of the Davis school district in Davis County," said Findlay. "So not Davis High School but out of Davis County."
Ultimately, it was decided a coach, who was unnamed by district officials, "exercised undue influence" in the recruitment of players.
Earnest became involved when she was tasked with helping in the investigation of the coaches and taking administrative action, if necessary.
After her investigation, complaints were received over how she handled the matter and a follow-up investigation was initiated.
Further information into who filed the complaints as well as how many were formally received was not made available.
"During the course of the investigation, other allegations of unprofessional conduct and potential violations of District policies were brought to the District’s attention," a statement reads in part. "The investigation remains ongoing."
The district called the administrative leave "standard procedure" and did not give any other information on when the investigation may conclude or a timeline on when Earnest may be allowed to return back to school.
