By Rupert Howell

An attorney for defendants in a suit in federal court including South Panola School Superintendent Keith Shaffer and SP High School principal Tim Fowler have answered allegations from former assistant football coach and teacher Mark Weaver virtually denying charges.

Weaver’s suit states that he was terminated due to alleged hostility toward the football coaching staff by administrators and that his civil rights were violated when he was terminated three days after expressing his opinion concerning a change in the school’s class scheduling.

The school district’s records indicate that Weaver was terminated due to “inappropriate interaction” with a student — a claim that Weaver’s suit states was “a routine disciplinary incident.”

Weaver also filed an Equal Opportunity Employment Commission Complaint alleging racial discrimination which cites an instance where a black teacher was not terminated for striking a student and mentions a coach with a well-known background of striking players with a strap was recommended for employment.

Weaver is white and has been an assistant coach and science teacher at South Panola since 1995.

Weaver first appealed his termination to South Panola trustees who voted 4-1 to uphold the termination after watching a video of the incident.

Weaver is represented by Jim Waide and Associates of Tupelo and has asked for a jury trial. School administrators and South Panola District are represented by David A. Prather of Ford & Harrleson LLP of Memphis.

The case has been assigned to U.S. Judge Michael P. Mills and Magistrate Judge Jane M. Virden, according to court documents.