West Fork activities director Alex Brayton has resigned after the school district put him on administrative leave for sending an inappropriate text message to a student.
According to a statement Brayton released to the school district, he admitted to sending the message saying, “I did send a personal text message to a student commenting on the student’s attractiveness, which is inappropriate for a person in my position, and I understand this sort of behavior is not something that can be tolerated by the district.”
West Fork superintendent Mike Kruger released a statement, “West Fork CSD placed Alex Brayton on administrative leave for the remainder of the school year as an investigation continues, and he will not be returning to West Fork in any of his previous roles.”
Brayton is a 2009 graduate of West Fork, the year the school was created with the consolidation of Rockwell-Swaledale and S-C-M-T. Along with serving as the AD, he was also the head boys track and field coach and the West Fork wellness center director.
KIOW has learned that 2016 Forest City graduate Caleb Hovenga will assume the role of head boys track and field coach. Hovenga is currently the 6th-grade social studies and life skills teacher, along with high school contemporary issues. Hovenga started at the school in 2020 after graduation from the University of Northern Iowa. His dad is the head boys track coach at Forest City.
Brayton continued in his statement, saying, “While I welcome the district’s continuing investigation to confirm that no further misconduct occurred, as a result of this lapse in judgment, I will be resigning from my positions.”
The West Fork school board will act upon his resignation at its April 18th meeting. According to Superintendent Kruger, Lance Thompson will be the interim athletic director at West Fork. Brayton has served the district since 2019; no charges have been filed.
