Newtown Cross Country and Track Coach Placed on Administrative Leave

NEWTOWN, CT — Parents were left hanging and in shock on Tuesday when they learned that Doug Russell, the Newtown High School girls' cross country and track coach, was placed on administrative leave, according to numerous sources.

Russell, a Newtown resident, works as a special education teacher, cross country and track and field coach, according to his LinkedIn profile. On his school website profile page states that he did undergraduate work at Virginia Commonwealth University in Special Education and has a graduate degree from The University of Virginia in Special Education.

Russell said he began his teaching career in Augusta County Virginia at Wilson Memorial High School and moved to Newtown in 1999 when he began teaching at Newtown High School.

Patch will update this breaking news story as more information becomes available.

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