A Black high school senior volunteering at a junior varsity football game in Georgia was told the concession stand was “for whites only,” according to his father. Six days later, the man accused of saying it was no longer the team’s coach.
Charles Kenyon, interim head football coach at Apalachee High School near Winder, resigned Oct. 21 as the Barrow County school district investigated what it called “racially derogatory language.” Alex Savakinas is now acting head coach for the rest of the season.
What the father says happened
The account comes from the student’s father, who spoke to WSB-TV in Atlanta. On Oct. 15, he said, Kenyon was working the concession stand when a former student teased him about the burgers. Kenyon answered that “this is for whites only.”
His son, a senior on the football team who was volunteering at the game, was next in line and asked what that meant. The father said Kenyon replied, “Well, you know, color guard,” while pointing to his own skin. Other parents overheard the exchange, and the father said he learned of it from one of them before he reported it.
The district has not said what the investigation found, and the public reporting so far carries no statement from Kenyon. Neither the district nor the school has said whether the resignation was the result of the inquiry.
The district’s statement did not name the coach. It said: “Any inappropriate or unprofessional statement or behavior, even if intended or represented as a ‘joke,’ will be taken seriously and thoroughly investigated.” Principal Jessica Rehberg said the school expects “all students, staff, and guests” to be treated “with dignity and respect.”
A program that keeps changing hands
Apalachee is the school where a shooting in September 2024 killed two teachers and two students. Mike Hancock resigned as head coach about six months later and cited mental health. Kevin Saunders took over, led the team through one season and left. Kenyon, his defensive coordinator, stepped in. Savakinas is the fourth head coach in two years.
For Black students on that team, the remark was not said in an empty room. It was said by the adult running their program, to a teenager who was working a school event, in front of other families. The father chose to report it, and the district’s own language, “racially derogatory,” is the official description of what was investigated.
The district has not said whether it will release its findings.
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