BAY COUNTY, Fla. (WMBB) — Bay County School board members suspended a Rutherford High School teacher Tuesday without pay but no one is talking publicly about the reasons.

Superintendent Bill Husfelt recommended the suspension of English Language Arts teacher Brian Gautier.

Husfelt told board members the case is somehow connected to a Title IX investigation but didn’t go into detail.

Several board members expressed their concerns about suspending someone without hearing a more detailed explanation.

“I just feel as a board member, I’m ill-equipped to comment on this because I simply know zero facts of what’s going on and maybe it was a felony crime or something that was pretty well proven, that’s conjecture, well, I’m having to vote on something right now that I know absolutely nothing about,” BDS board member Chris Moore said.

Husfelt said he feels strongly about his recommendation and asked the board to trust him.

“I encourage if you have any questions, I’ll be glad to talk to you about it, I’m not gonna come in here this time because most likely I’ve had to be a witness one time for these things before I might have to and so I’m not going to say anything publicly about this at this time,” Husfelt said.

Even with concerns, the board voted to approve the suspension without pay. Now the district attorney will send Gautier a letter and he will have the option to contest the decision with a hearing.

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