MOULTRIE, Ga. — The Georgia Professional Standards Commission agreed Thursday to reinstate the teaching certificate of former Colquitt County High School football coach Rush Propst.

Paul Shaw, director of educator ethics for the PSC, told The Moultrie Observer via telephone Thursday evening that the state Attorney General’s office brought up a negotiated consent order for a sanction of 131 days, to be applied retroactively. Shaw said the PSC accepted these conditions, and those days ended on Feb. 21, 2020. 

Propst called Thursday’s ruling “vindication” in a message to supporters that he sent out after the PSC’s meeting Thursday.

“Prior to the Georgia PSC conducting their own investigation, and based solely on the information provided by Mr. [School Superintendent Doug] Howell, the Georgia PSC originally sought to permanently revoke my certification,” Propst’s statement said. “Following the Georgia PSC’s interview of dozens of individuals, including interviewing me on two occasions, the Georgia PSC submitted their findings to the Georgia Attorney General’s office. The Georgia Attorney General’s office thoroughly reviewed all evidence and, based on their review of the evidence, prepared the Consent Order that was approved today.”

In a telephone interview Thursday night, Propst said he believed he could have taken the issue to court and won, but that might have taken a couple of years.

“And I need to go to work. I can’t go to work without the certificate,” he said. “We took this agreement instead of going through a court battle. It might take the next two years. I need a paycheck. So this was the best route to go.”

Propst said he believes the appeal to the PSC had gone “dormant” after he took a role as a volunteer consultant with the University of Alabama at Birmingham last fall. But when the head coach position at Valdosta High School came open, he and his lawyers agreed it might be best to try to reach an agreement that would allow him to become certified in Georgia again, he said. 

His lawyers contacted the state attorney general’s office about trying to reach such an agreement, and the result was the consent order that the PSC approved on Thursday.

The Colquitt County Board of Education relieved Propst of his coaching duties almost one year ago – March 14, 2019 – after an investigation revealed five violations of the state code of ethics for educators. Allegations made to the board included that Propst gave pills to students, was insubordinate, and owed state and federal taxes that totaled six figures.

After the board’s action, the PSC also investigated the complaints and issued a ruling in July 2019 that was not released. The case moved into a “due process” stage then, PSC officials said at the time.

The PSC investigative report, obtained Thursday by The Observer, focused on three issues.

The most space (nine pages out of 13) was given to the claim that Propst gave prescription medication to a player. The allegation goes back to an incident at Colquitt County football games in August of 2012 but the PSC report also contains statements related to 2017 and 2018. 

In his statement, Propst said the 2012 incident had been dealt with at the time.

“In 2012, I acknowledged providing a student athlete with his own properly prescribed medication while the Packers were traveling for a road game,” he said. “Following our return from that game, I discussed this with the medical staff and with principal Bob Jones. At Mr. Jones’ request, I signed a letter acknowledging I provided the student athlete with his medication and noted that I had been given permission to dispense the medication by the student athletes’ mother.  That letter was placed in my file.  The 2012 issue was addressed in an appropriate and professional manner within four days and was resolved.”

The other allegations considered in the report were the failure to pay federal income taxes and an unauthorized stay at a hotel in December 2018 that Propst allegedly tried to bill to the school system.

Propst said he has been “upfront and honest” about tax difficulties he’s had. He said he failed to file taxes 2010-2017 because of his battle with cancer.

“The allegation concerning the hotel expense is nothing short of Mr. Howell’s intentionally uninformed smear,” he said.

In both the statement and the interview, Propst said he believes Howell was “out to get him” and started the investigation to justify his firing.

“And everybody knew it,” he said. “And the school board had no evidence.”

He said many of the charges in Howell’s investigation were untrue, including that he interfered in the hiring of principal Jamie Dixon and that he lost control of his team after the state championship game loss to Milton. Neither of those issues were considered by the PSC.

While Propst’s certification has been reinstated, it will show the PSC’s sanction, Shaw told The Observer. This will be the second sanction on it. The other was in connection with a 2015 incident in which Propst head-butted a Colquitt High player who was wearing a helmet. In May 2016, the PSC suspended Propst’s teaching certificate for one year, but that punishment was changed to a reprimand on appeal. 

On Jan. 2 Propst was announced as the first head football coach for The Ultimate Student Athlete Academy, a new private school in Alabama, Propst’s home state. However, on Feb. 27 the coach released a statement saying he was not under contract with this school, and due to factors outside his control he would not be taking a coaching job there.