COQUILLE — The Coquille School District Board accepted the resignation of former track coach Wendi Boutiette Wednesday night. But it was the rumor of the possible departure of another district employee that was the main focus of the special meeting.

Boutiette, who is accused of sex abuse among other charges stemming from a 2006 incident involving a teenage boy who had been on the Coquille High School track team, submitted the one-sentence letter Wednesday.

“Due to circumstances beyond my control, I will not be able to fulfill my contract obligations and must respectfully resign,” she wrote.

Coquille Superintendent Diann Gillaspie said the board planned to talk in closed session over how to proceed with Boutiette’s employment, but her resignation solved that.

Boutiette will appear in court March 17 for a preliminary hearing on charges of second-degree sexual abuse, a class C felony; contributing to the sexual delinquency of a minor, a class A misdemeanor; and sexual misconduct, a class C misdemeanor. Coos County District Attorney R. Paul Frasier passed the case on to the Douglas County district attorney because of his family’s connection with the Boutiette family.

Neither board members nor any of the 20 people in the audience commented on Boutiette’s resignation.

They reserved their comments for response to a letter to the editor published in the Coquille Valley Sentinel. It suggested the school district was preparing to fire Coquille High School Principal Sharon Nelson. Two members of the audience, Fred and Laura Eschler, spoke in support of Nelson, who has been principal since June 2007. Nelson was not at the meeting and had not returned phone calls this morning at press time.

Laura Eschler read from a letter she prepared for the board. She said the school has been improving under Nelson’s leadership and if, in fact, the district were to let Nelson go, losing her would be a step backward.

“Sharon has been an integral part of our progress,” Eschler read. “Additionally, we believe that another change in administrators would be detrimental for all of us.”

School board members and district officials offered no response to the audience and did not discuss Nelson’s employment publicly, except to say circumstances surrounding Nelson are not related to Boutiette’s case.

“They are completely separate,” Gillaspie said.