Petition Demands Hazelwood West High Coach Be Rehired

David Richard, an assistant football coach at Hazelwood West High School has been fired after a five-year old music video surfaced showing him appearing to smoke marijuana with women wearing bikinis in a hot tub. Some parents demanded the school district fire Richard, despite the fact that he was popular with students and has been accused of no wrong-doing on campus.

Richard's supporters have started an online petition demanding his rehiring:

Coach David Richard has been coaching and caring selflessly for the students at Hazelwood West for 3 years with no corrective actions. He is also an All American football player from HazelWood East. Like any other human being, he had dreams. One was music the other was coaching football and helping teens grow to be successful in football. He stopped practicing music to focus on his career as a coach.

Recently, his career and influence has been halted. The Hazelwood School District has fired one of the most influential high school coaches in St. Louis for a music video that was uploaded 5 years ago depicting him in a hot tub with women in swimsuits.

There was nothing in the video that would be damaging to the kids he influenced currently.

A spokesperson for the school district said they were unable to comment on individual staff members of personnel matters, but gave this statement:

Parents made the District aware of a video that involved a Hazelwood School District staff member. The District’s media and social networking guidelines state, “Employees should ensure that the content of personal website/pages does not violate The Hazelwood School District Staff Conduct Policy, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) or harm the employees’ ability to function professionally and effectively in the school district’s environment. Failure to comply with this procedure may result in disciplinary action, up to and including termination.”

Patch was unable to reach David Richard for comment, but Real STL News, an independent news outlet with a large following on Facebook, said it will post an exclusive interview with him around 6:30 p.m. tonight.

Image via Care2 Petitions