Is it legal for a teacher to pull my 12 year old daughter from her class and make her write and sign a statement?

This happened yesterday. Parents were not notified of the situation. The coach was placed on suspension pending investigation, and is facing termination. The comment he supposedly made was, “The only reason I would go there is to pee in their lake." All the girls were pulled from class individually by the athletic director and questioned. They were then made to write a statement and sign it. First of all, I find it ridiculous that he would be fired for that statement. Second of all, I am very upset that my daughter was put in this situation without my knowledge. These are going girls, and they are going to write whatever they're told because they are scared of getting into trouble. My daughter and the other girls are very upset. My ex-husband went to the school and asked to speak to the athletic director about the situation. We want to make sure we're getting the whole story and heart her side of it. She was too busy to talk to him and had not bothered to return phone calls. We kind of feel like they are trying to hide something. Is it OK for them to do this to the students? It is my job as a parent to advocate for my child, and this does not seem right. I feel like her dad or I should have been present. I am getting the impression that they are trying to get rid of the coach for some reason that I don't know. Politics, I guess. The girls love him and he has done a great job coaching them. I really don't want to think that it's because he's black, but I don't really see any plausible reason for their actions.