Football
A recent background check of athletic officials performed by Williamson County Schools revealed that 21 of the roughly 200 checked have questionable backgrounds, with some being some severe.
Whistle
“It’s not pretty,” Williamson County Schools Superintendent Mike Looney said.
“We’ve done about 200 checks so far, and we have 21 of them that have have come back with charges that required us to either ban the officials and/or to ask more questions. The charges ranged from statutory rape, sex with boys, prostitution, multiple cocaine charges.”
Looney said the severity of crimes, along with when they took place, will dictate how the school district deals with the 21 officials.
“Those officials that have been convicted as felons will be banned from our school district,” Looney said. “There are some individuals that have some criminal records, but the charges were a long time ago. To give an example, a DUI charge from 10 years ago. That’s not good obviously, but that’s not going to prevent an official from working with Williamson County Schools.
“But those individuals that have considerable criminal records will be banned from our schools.”
Williamson to background check officials
Last month football official Kyle Gill was suspended by the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association for discrepancies in his hiring application. That happened after Gill was run over by a Glencliff player during a game at Gallatin. Gill later said he thought the player intentionally ran him over.
The TSSAA does not administer background checks on officials but checked into Gill’s past after the incident at the game.
Gill pleaded no contest in 2007 to attempted statutory rape and aggravated criminal trespassing, resulting in probation and an order to “not take any job with any school system while on probation” in Rutherford County.
The TSSAA Board of Control will vote on whether to do background checks on officials on Nov. 12.
Former football official had arrest history
“I’ve talked to (TSSAA executive director) Bernard Childress himself, and I know that (the TSSAA) is planning on doing something in November, but I just didn’t think we could wait,” Looney said. “I value the safety of our students and spectators too much.
“Frankly I’m glad we didn’t wait, based on what we found.”
Looney, who said he could not divulge names of banned officials, said Williamson County could only monitor what happens at its home games.
“I can ban (officials) from games here, but I have no control at away games,” he said.
Wilson County schools began checking the backgrounds of its officials on Sept. 25.
Reach Michael Murphy at 615-259-8262 and on Twitter @Murph_TNsports.
