A longtime Northeast Iowa track coach is resigning in protest of bullying and harassment among students at the high school.
Harlan Heidelbauer, who has cross country at Allamakee Community High School for 25 years, quit his job Monday amid controversy over how a bullying incident was handled by school officials. A death threat which named two members of his cross country team, was written on a blackboard in the boy’s lockerroom last November.
One of the students named in the death threat has transferred out of the district as a result of the incident. The threat had apparently originated over hostility between the cross country and the football teams.
The student responsible for the threat was punished with a suspension. However, coach Heidelbauer contends the punishment was not severe enough to discourage someone from repeating the act and the situation will be worse next year.