“Really Loved, Really Appreciated” — Stephen Boyle’s Future in Coaching Is in Limbo — Even After a Not‑Guilty Verdict
- Ryan Hayes
- Jun 19
- 5 min read
Mooresville, N.C.— Stephen Boyle did everything the system asked of him and more.
He stepped away from the wrestling room, faced criminal charges in open court, trusted a judge with his freedom and his name — and that judge found him not guilty. Yet he remains a man the school system treats as if he is still under suspicion: allowed to teach in Iredell‑Statesville Schools, but blocked from coaching wrestling for at least a year by the school district. To his attorney, Michael Levine, that is not just a bad look. It is a fundamental failure to respect who Stephen Boyle is and what a not‑guilty verdict is supposed to mean.
Boyle was charged with simple assault and misdemeanor child abuse after breaking up a fight between two student-athletes during wrestling practice on November 21st. He was surprised when he was contacted by the Iredell County Sheriff’s office two days later - and even more surprised when he was formally charged in what Levine called a “rush to judgement.” On Monday, November 24th Boyle turned himself in and waited for his day in court.
Despite the inconsistencies in the evidence, the Iredell County district attorney insisted on prosecuting the case but requesting multiple continuances, forcing Boyle to wait to clear his name. As that wait lengthened the school district, which had suspended him, allowed him to come back to work - as a member of the maintenance team. Instead of teaching in a classroom he was placed on the grounds crew, doing manual labor on school properties around the district. Levine viewed that assignment as a message.
This was not a seasoned educator being welcomed back; this was a man being pushed to the margins. Levine said the decision, “felt like a message” and that, in his view, it was “a way to probably try to get him to quit” without ever saying those words out loud. Several months later a date was finally nailed down. Boyle’s trial would be on June 2nd.
But before the trial came the letter:
On May 14, 2026, Iredell‑Statesville Schools sent a formal notice addressed to Stephen Boyle at his Mooresville home, sent “VIA EMAIL and CERTIFIED MAIL.” On Human Resource Services letterhead, under the district’s slogan “Together, Ensuring Student Success by Igniting a Passion for Learning,” the letter begins: “This letter serves as formal notification that your contract will be recommended for non-renewal for the 2026-2027 school year with Iredell-Statesville Schools.” It continues, “This decision is based on a review of employment-related concerns and information that has impacted the district’s ability to continue your employment assignment.”
In a few sentences, the district signaled that not only would Boyle not coach, but he might not remain employed by the school system at all. The letter advises him of his rights under North Carolina General Statute 115C‑325.3, saying he may request written notice of the reasons for the recommendation and/or a hearing before the Board of Education, provided he makes that request in writing within ten calendar days. If he does not, the letter warns, he will “forfeit your right to receive this information or request a hearing.”
Rather than wait for the outcome of the criminal investigation, the district chose to have Boyle continue his grounds crew duties through the end of the school year, with the knowledge that he would not be returning for 2026-27. They also offered him an opportunity to resign at that time - which he declined.
Despite the letter, Boyle finished out his contract with Iredell-Statesville Schools, cleaned out his classroom at Lake Norman High School after students had left campus for the summer, and waited for his day in court.
During the trial, the state’s only witnesses were the alleged victim and the detectives who investigated the case. Levine called several other Lake Norman wrestlers who were at practice that day to the stand, as well as the other coach who was at the practice - a coach who was never interviewed by the school system or the sheriff’s office. Other parents, teammates, and community members attended the hearing to support Boyle. No one from the school district was present. “The evidence didn’t show a violent criminal,” Levine said. “It showed a wrestling coach in a wrestling practice.”
The verdict was immediate: not guilty on both counts. For most people, that would have been the end of the story — a painful chapter closed. For Boyle, it was only the end of the criminal case.
He was told his contract would now be renewed, but when he tried to reach out to the Lake Norman High School principal and athletic director to regain his duties as the head wrestling coach, it became clear that he hadn’t been told everything.
Boyle received an email from district HR on Wednesday, June 17, more than two weeks after the trial. It stated he would be reinstated as a teacher at Lake Norman High School, but the district still refused to allow Boyle to resume coaching wrestling - saying he was ineligible for any coaching assignments for the 2026-27 school year, and that the Lake Norman Head Wrestling coach position would not be held for him. He was also given less than 24-hours to respond to the offer. “It makes absolutely no sense,” Levine said. “The school system is saying, ‘We trust you to stand in front of a classroom, to manage students, to teach them every day’ — but somehow they don’t trust the same man to coach those same kids in the sport he’s dedicated his life to. If he’s safe and fit to teach, he’s safe and fit to coach.”
Meanwhile, the district has offered almost no public explanation. To try to get answers, I reached out by phone to the officials in a position to speak. I called Superintendent Dr. Jeffery James, Principal Nicholas Allen, and Athletic Director Joe Simboli. None of them returned my calls. When I reached Chief Human Resources Officer Dr. LeVar Mizelle, he said the district could not comment on a personnel matter.
A not-guilty verdict has to mean something. If the legal system clears you, but you’re still treated like you did something wrong, then we’ve just created a new kind of permanent accusation that follows you forever. “That’s not what due process is supposed to look like,” Levine explained.
Stephen Boyle’s story remains a powerful, unsettling example of what it looks like when a man wins in court but keeps losing in the system that’s supposed to know him best.
If you want to support Stephen Boyle or remind district leadership who they work for so they may reconsider how they are treating Stephen, you can contact the following officials directly:
Superintendent of Schools
Dr. Jeffery James
704-872-8931
Principal (Lake Norman)
Nicholas Allen
704-799-8555
Athletic Director (Lake Norman)
Joe Simboli
704-799-8555
Chief Human Resources Officer
Dr. LeVar Mizelle
704-924-2009
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