Following a bench-clearing fight during a football game between Northwest and Gaithersburg high schools last month, school leaders announced position changes Wednesday as a result of an internal investigation.
The Gaithersburg High School Athletic Specialist position is “vacated” and the Northwest High School head and assistant coach positions will be vacated as well, according to a community letter to the school communities. Travis Hawkins is Head Football Coach at Northwest.
The three people and current athletics staff have been informed of the decisions, per the letter from Gaithersburg Principal Cary Dimmick, Northwest Principal Scott Smith and Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) Director of Systemwide Athletics Jeffrey Sullivan.
Those currently acting in the positions will complete this season, according to the message. The process to permanently fill positions will be announced later this year.
The investigation was conducted by MCPS central office staff.
MCPS will provide support like restorative discussions for each team’s players and counselors or psychologists to individual players, as well as restorative discussions for both team’s coaching staff.
After the altercation last month, the game was declared a double forfeit and both teams forfeited their next games. MCPS officials also announced new rules for high school athletic competitions through the rest of the football season and potentially beyond.
