Sequoia A.D. Faces Administrative Leave, Insider Reveals

Brandon Payne, the athletic director and head football coach at Sequoia Pathway Academy, has been placed on administrative leave amid allegations of physically assaulting a 13-year-old student. This decision was confirmed by sources familiar with the matter.

The student’s mother, Germanni Hernandez, reported that school resource officer Matt Rexinger and other Sequoia Pathway staff validated Payne’s leave after she inquired about the situation.

Attempts by InMaricopa to reach officials at the Sequoia Pathway principal’s office and EdKey’s human resources department yielded no immediate answers regarding the decision.

According to Hernandez, the incident transpired during her son’s fourth-period physical education class while Payne participated in a basketball game. She claimed that Payne grabbed her son’s arm, causing him to injure his shoulder. Following the injury, her son attempted to distance himself, but Payne allegedly continued to push him physically.

“He gets in his face and starts screaming at him,” Hernandez recounted. “He kept saying, ‘I told you to sit the F down. When I tell you to sit the F down, you sit the F down.’” At this point, she said, Payne pushed the boy into the bleachers and forced him to comply.

Hernandez also stated that Payne insulted her son, saying he “had no home training” for not listening to adults.

In a subsequent encounter in the administrative office, Hernandez alleged that Payne confessed to pushing her son. “The coach tells another adult in the office, ‘Yeah, I shoved him. I did that. I shoved him but he wasn’t listening,’” she reported.

While security cameras were not operational, there were multiple witnesses to the event. The Maricopa Police Department announced its intention to interview these witnesses as part of an active investigation, pending parental consent.

Hernandez indicated that this is not the first instance of bullying. She described previous incidents where Payne mocked her son’s height, stating, “He told him, ‘You’re small to play football, you couldn’t be on my team.’” Her son, who underwent a bone marrow transplant as a child, has had growth challenges.

Maricopa Police spokesperson Monica Williams has confirmed a police report regarding the incident and that the investigation is ongoing, although she declined to discuss specifics due to departmental policy.

The school’s principal, Julianne Toepfer, informed Hernandez that the internal investigation and potential disciplinary actions involving Payne may be deferred until the police investigation concludes. Hernandez expressed discomfort with the possibility of Payne returning to the school environment, fearing retaliation.

This situation comes on the heels of a prior incident involving a former Sequoia Pathway physical education teacher and football coach, Ryan Portee, who was jailed in June after threatening to murder a 20-year-old.