Dorothea Epps

BUTLER TWP — Dorothea Epps has resigned as head varsity girls basketball coach at Butler High School.

Epps has been the head coach of the Golden Tornado for 12 seasons and has been a coach in the program for 20 years. She submitted a letter of resignation to athletic director Bill Mylan on Tuesday.

The coach issued this statement:

“I have decided not to continue coaching for the Butler School District. There are several personal reasons for my leaving the district.

“However, I am grateful for the time I have spent here as a coach. I wish the girls basketball team continued success, and I would also like to thank the many parents and the community that have supported me, my family and our team throughout the years.”

The Butler School District hired an independent counsel to investigate parental complaints against Epps earlier this year. No wrongdoings were discovered and she retained her coaching position at Butler by a 6-2 school board vote on June 15.

Butler finished 7-15 last season and has missed the WPIAL playoffs in four of the past five years. Epps won 59 of 72 games from 2007-10 and won three successive section championships.

Epps said in her statement, “It has been an honor and a privilege to have coached so many wonderful and talented young women, and I will always cherish the memories and relationships that I have established with the girls during my coaching career.”

Girls basketball practice begins Monday and the 2015-16 season opener is Dec. 4.

“This puts us in a bind,” Mylan said. “We don’t have much time to get a new coach in place and find someone to run the program for our student athletes.

“We can’t go through the usual interview process in this case because of the time restraints. I will be getting together with our administration (Thursday) and we’ll decide what direction we want to go.”

Epps plans to continue coaching and is weighing other options.