Deion Sanders Fired Again By Dallas School
NFL Hall of Famer Deion Sanders has been fired for a second time by the charter school he helped found.
In October, Sanders was sacked by Prime Prep Academy after he allegedly got into a scuffle with the school’s chief financial officer, but was rehired shortly thereafter.
Sanders, who is also the school’s football coach, apparently has had an ongoing combative relationship with school administrators over alleged mismanagement. After learning that Sanders was fired on Tuesday, about 75 students at the high school briefly staged a walk-out.
In the latest firing, School Superintendent Rachel Sanders gave no reason for her decision. The school’s board chairman T. Christopher Lewis disagreed with the termination, stating that “I did not approve this dismissal nor would I have made that decision.”
According to Forbes.com (and other media outlets), “the second departure of the man who calls himself ‘Prime Time’ is related to a power struggle between administrators loyal to him, and those loyal to the school’s other founder, D.L. Wallace.”
Wallace left the school in November shortly after a contentious school board meeting with parents.
Deion Sanders told the ABC News affiliate WFAA in Dallas that “This is nonsense. We are sick of it. The kids don’t deserve it. Overpaid, underqualified administrators never worked in a school in their life. Total chaos. We have a formula to restore what was the dream at Prime Prep.”
Texas officials may or may not launch a formal investigation of Prime Prep, which reportedly receives about $5 million in stand funding. A spokeswoman for the Texas Education Agency said that officials are “aware of various issues surrounding Prime Prep Academy” and “continues to be diligent in gathering information related to specific complaints regarding finances, special education and allegations of nepotism.”
NBC News ProFootballTalk suggested that government intervention could be, however, right around the corner for the charter school that Deion Sanders helped create: “At some point, the Texas Education Agency likely will show up and start poking around, possibly finding enough irregularities to shut the whole place down.”
[top image credit: Joe Seer / Shutterstock.com]
