County Commission Vice Chairman Randy Fairbanks said Monday the people in Soddy Daisy "love and appreciate" embattled Soddy Daisy High assistant principal Jared Hensley and to lose him "would be a devastating blow."
Mr. Hensley, who is also the school's athletic director and baseball coach, was placed on administrative leave by Supt. Bryan Johnson after saying on an in-school broadcast that "girls pretty much ruin everything." He was referring to the fact that students were no longer allowed to wear shorts during school.
Chairman Fairbanks said, "Now is not the time for a 'politically correct' response to the incident involving Jared Hensley.
"A good man's reputation, career and livelihood are on the line. I will be the first to say that Coach Hensley used poor judgment with the words he used, but to classify him as a sexist is just wrong.
"I have noticed that all the people that are attacking Coach Hensley don' t know him or have never been associated with him. All the people coming to his defense are people that have known him for years. I know that the Superintendent and the school board will do a full investigation on this incident. I would ask them to go back to Coach Hensley's first days as a teacher and interview as many students and teachers as possible.
"Ask these individuals about Coach Hensley's character. At the end of the investigation, I hope and pray that any decision on Coach Hensley's future is based on an individual with impeccable character that made a mistake, rather than pressure from outsiders who want to make an "example" out of him.
"Let me be clear. We, in the Soddy Daisy community, love and appreciate Jared Hensley and what he means to all the students, male and female, at Soddy Daisy High School. To lose him would be a devastating blow to our school, as well as our community."
Meanwhile, a new Care2 petition is calling on Soddy-Daisy High to remove Mr. Hensley from his post..
The group said, " Hensley recently made an overtly sexist video address to the student body about the school's new dress code. Over 14,000 have signed the Care2 petition.
Judy Molland said of her Care2 petition, “The Kavanaugh hearings and videos like the one this Assistant Principal made are sending a horrifying message. As an educator, I am appalled and embarrassed that a fellow educator, in a position of power, would use such sexist and misogynistic language.
“Teen girls are watching, they are paying attention and they are rightfully scared,. "We have to weed this hatred of women out of our power structures."