RESTON, Va. (AP) — A high school athletic director in northern Virginia has been implicated in a scheme to use homelessness as a way to recruit more football players.

The Fairfax County Times newspaper reported it has obtained a series of text messages that implicate Hayfield Secondary School athletic director Monty Fritts in a plan to exploit homelessness loopholes to bring in players.

Fritts says in the messages that he intends to hire Darryl Overton as football coach. That leads to an exchange in which Fritts reportedly says: “There would need to be some change, but if they are homeless, nothing can happen.”

The texts imply the AD will use homelessness, a status meant to protect vulnerable students, as a tool for athletic gain. The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act of 1987 protects homeless students, including the right to enroll in a school automatically, the newspaper reported.

Fairfax County Public Schools Superintendent Michelle Reid said the messages were “turned over to our internal and external legal counsel for review, and to thoroughly investigate, which takes time.”

Last week, Fairfax County Public Schools said Fritts would take a leave of absence to move overseas.

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