Back from their holiday break, students at Conard High School in West Hartford said the school was abuzz Monday about gym teacher and baseball coach Sean McCann. He is on paid leave and his attorney said he is being investigated over text messages he allegedly sent a female student.
"A lot of people were talking about it," said Jazmine Rivera, a Conard junior. "He was a good coach and a lot people were like, "Oh, he did this, he did that."
"I just heard rumors that Coach McCann sent text messages to female students and he got fired for it or something like that," said Joey Presing, a Conard freshman. McCann has not been fired, but put on paid leave.
His attorney, Walter Hussey, told NBC Connecticut an investigation is underway, involving alleged inappropriate text messages between McCann and an underage female student.
"He was friendly. You could go up to talk to him if you need help with school, stuff like that, so it's a shocker," Rivera said.
Conard junior Nikhil Kumar is in McCann's last period gym class, but Kumar won't be seeing McCann in the near future.
Superintendent Karen List wouldn't comment on the investigation, saying it's a personnel issue, but she did say McCann was placed on leave Dec. 21.
"I'm very shocked," Nikhil Kumar said. "I didn't even know he was like that. He's calm, cool, collected, a cool guy to talk to about problems. I heard this, I was shocked."
Parents said the school district did the right thing by putting McCann on leave while they investigate.
"Until they get to the bottom of it," parent Suinder Kumar said. "I am concerned because both my kids are here." .
"I think being put on paid leave may be the right thing while they try and figure out exactly what was in the text messages," said Karen Presing, who said she has just heard about the allegations as she was picking her son up from school.
West Hartford police are investigating to see if any laws were broken.
McCann's attorney Walter Hussey said he is confident once the police investigation is over, that McCann will be exonerated.
