Prep Football 2016: Removal caught South Fort Myers' Anthony Dixon off guard

The attorney for former South Fort Myers football coach Anthony Dixon said his client was surprised when the district removed him from his duties.

The Lee County School District found probable cause to suspend Dixon without pay and seek his termination following an investigation into a sexual incident involving a number of students inside a South Fort Myers High restroom in May, according to documents released Monday.

The investigation also concluded that assistant coach Nathan O’Jibway be removed from the sidelines and serve a three-day suspension from his teaching position for his lack of oversight.

Wolfpack athletic director Don Payne filed his resignation with the school district Monday. He declined to say why he decided to step down, but confirmed he will speak at the Lee County School Board meeting on Tuesday night on behalf of Dixon.

The sexual encounter occurred after school on May 17 and was videotaped and shared on social media. A hallway camera at the school captured 25 students entering the restroom during time of the incident, but school officials say not all participated in a sex act. Sixteen male students were disciplined, including five receiving suspensions.

In an Aug. 2 meeting Michelle Freeman, the director of Professional Standards & Equity, and Robert Dodig, the district’s staff attorney, met with Dixon and his attorney Ben Yormak. Yormak described the meeting as a "fact finding" inquiry rather than an interrogation and Dixon continued to coach and work as a security guard.

"The school district's attorney told him to keep doing what he's doing and not to worry about things," Yormak said.

"I actually would have described it as an atypical meeting, in that it was more congenial than normal. To have a school board attorney inform him not to worry about things, basically that everything would work out. It was beyond misrepresentative."

The school district completed its investigation Aug. 15 and notified Dixon the next day that his failure to adequately supervise students compromised their safety, health and welfare and that he would be suspended without pay or benefits on Aug. 17.

Dixon's employment status will be heard by the school board at its next appropriate meeting, which could be Sept. 27, according to school district spokesperson Lauren Stillwell.

The district won't comment until the investigation is released Friday.

O’Jibway, a mathematics teacher who has been employed with the school district since 2012, had his hearing with Freeman and Dodig on Aug. 11. He was “relieved of his coaching duties” on Aug. 15 based on a failure to properly supervise students. O’Jibway was given a three-day suspension, running Monday through Wednesday, without pay or benefits. 

Dixon was entering his 19th year as a Lee County Schools employee and his 12th at South. He had been an assistant football coach his first 10 years at the school and was named head coach in June 2015.

Over the previous five years, Dixon’s annual evaluations were never short of exemplary, with former principal Thomas O’Connell writing in 2013 that Dixon was “one of the most important resouce (sic) this school has with his knowledge and understanding of our students” and that “I will always be in your debt.”

Prep Football 2016: Fans show support for fired South Fort Myers coach Anthony Dixon

As recent as 2015, Dixon, 39, received an evaluation from former South assistant principal Kari Hardman that noted he was “an essential part of our security team and provides great lead-by-example leadership to the rest of the security team.” Hardman also wrote that Dixon “has a great rapport with students and has been excellent in mentoring our new security specialists this year.”

On Friday, T-shirts with the slogan "#DixonIsSouth" were being sold outside the South Fort Myers preseason football game against Largo. The South Fort Myers coaches were wearing the shirts pregame. The game was canceled due to inclement weather.