The Hartford Public School interim superintendent has terminated two coaches, which is the most serious discipline given out following an investigation of how the school handled allegations of child abuse against a high school football coach.
"We're now holding people accountable and this is part of our changing of the culture," Dr. Leslie Torres-Rodriguez told NBC Connecticut.
Assistant coach Glenn Corlett and a third coach who was never technically hired on the books were also let go.
Last month, the NBC Connecticut Troubleshooters broke news of the emails sent by assistant coaches and players outlining allegations of abuse on and off the field by coach Pablo Ortiz Jr. The school investigation reveals numerous people did not report the allegations to the Department of Children and Familes (DCF) as the law mandates them to do.
Athletic faculty manager Diane Callis was suspended without pay for ten days. In her discipline letter, the acting superintendant also found Callis did not follow district hiring protocols and said she allowed individuals to coach students before they were fully vetted. It was revealed one of those people was allegedly not truthful about his criminal background.
One employee in this investigation received only a letter of reprimand.
But three high level officials, Donald Slater, cheif operating officer Dr. Jose Colon Rivas, and Bulkeley High School principal Gayle Allen-Green, were suspended without pay one day each. Their letters cited a significant lapse in professional judgement. The acting superintendent also said Allen-Greene failed to take any follow up action upon learning of allegations agains the football program.
"We're clearly committed to all of our students, ensuring they're thriving in a safe environment, however, when we have incidents like these we have to stop and swiftly examine what went wrong," Leslie Torres-Rodriguez reiterated.
After the Child Advocate recently issued her report on a decade worth of Hartford school officials failing to report suspected child abuse, review and update mandated reporting policies.
“With child abuse, suspected abuse, if we know that people know and have not acted they will be held accountable up to and including termination,” Torres-Rodriguez announced publicly last month.
