Van Buren head football coach resigns pending criminal investigation

The Van Buren Board of Education accepted the resignation of middle school teacher and high school football head coach Chris Henry Tuesday morning during a special meeting. Van Buren Superintendent Jason Inkrott had written in a letter to the district earlier in the week he was updating the community on the status "of the need to place a teacher on administrative leave due to a pending criminal investigation in another county." The letter continues: "The teacher will remain on administrative leave and will continue to work remotely to support our district on assignments such as lesson planning, until their resignation takes effect on March 31st." Henry will be on paid administrative leave, according to the resignation agreement provided by the Van Buren Board of Education. Alongside paid administrative leave, Henry retains fringe benefits until the date of resignation and will be paid "pro rata, sixty percent each" for his Assistant Athletic Director and Local Professional Development Committees contracts. Upon request, the board will also provide written or verbal reference for Henry, limited to "dates of employment and positions held." Henry is not prohibited from being on school grounds or at school activities as a parent. Inkrott first notified the community of an ongoing criminal investigation of one of the district's teachers on Feb. 20 in a district-wide email obtained by The Courier. Speaking of the then-unidentified teacher, in the email Inkrott said he and the administration "have no indication that (the investigation) is related to their job as a teacher or any extracurricular positions held in the district." Inkrott wrote he also had no reason to believe the investigation involves any other current of former Van Buren student or staff member. Inkrott confirmed via email Wednesday that the teacher mentioned in the emails is Henry. Inkrott said administration and the board will not provide future updates on the situation moving forward because the criminal investigation is not related to the school district. The community will be updated when the district finds hires to replace the positions left by Henry's resignation. Henry is an eighth-grade social studies teacher at Van Buren Middle School and was promoted to head coach of the high school football team in 2022. He had previously been an assistant football coach for 15 years. Inkrott said via email that the administration had no information regarding who informed them of the investigation.