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PROVO — A meeting Wednesday night brought outrage from supporters of a high school football coach suspended for his alleged misuse of school money.
The Provo School District suspended Timpview High School coach Louis Wong Tuesday. At Wednesday's meeting, members of the district's Board of Education called those financial irregularities uncovered in a state audit "alarming" and "negligent."
The meeting held a lot of heat, a lot of anger, and a lot of support for suspended coach Louis Wong.
"I'm here to tell you Louis Wong is not a thief," said Taz Murray. "I roomed with Louis Wong, I lived with Louis Wong. I know Louis Wong. I've coached with Louis Wong."
Wong had many supporters show up, in fact, that students were sitting on the floor.
Wong is one of the winningest coaches in Utah high school football, but he's on the losing end of the state audit that raised questions about how he spent school money.
Regardless, his supporters question whether he was ever trained to account for his expenses.
"Show me Wong's Swiss bank account and I will get my pitchfork and hot tar. But since there isn't anything like that I'd like to be a little bit more objective," one man said.
Among the questionable expenses identified in the audit: more than $1,200 in reimbursements for food and gifts for coaches, $750 worth of personal car repairs, and a care contract in which he received $1,500 in personal compensation.
The coach told the Deseret News he did nothing wrong. His players still back him.
"I don't think it's very fair to fire a successful man that everyone loved at Timpview," one student said.
"I'm very sicken(ed) and disappointed by the decision of the school district to fire Coach Wong," another student added.
Wong has 15 days to appeal his suspension. He told the Deseret News he will do that.
