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Monday, April 27, 2015

"It's how school boards typically handle such matters"

STAMFORD -- It began in May 2011, when a Stamford High School ninth-grader reported that her teacher touched her breast as she sat behind his desk during class.
Then-Principal Donna Valentine investigated and concluded that the touching was not intentional. The teacher apologized and Valentine took no disciplinary action.
Ten months later, the teacher was cited in another incident, The Advocate has learned from a disciplinary letter obtained by the paper.
According to the March 26, 2012, letter written by the school district's former human resources director, the teacher was reprimanded that month, when he was discovered in his locked, darkened classroom with a female student. When his supervisor knocked on the door, the teacher refused to open it, according to the letter.
The teacher was suspended for two days without pay, Superintendent Winifred Hamilton said in an emailed response to questions about the incident.
Eight months after that, in November 2012, the father of another Stamford High student went to Valentine with inappropriate text messages sent to his daughter by the same teacher.
The teacher was never seen at Stamford High again.
But he wasn't fired.
The Advocate has learned that, in January 2013, the school system struck a deal with the teacher, placing him on administrative leave, with pay and benefits, from November 2012 to June 2013, when he resigned.
He formally separated from the school system in August 2013, complete with a letter of recommendation written by Valentine, included in the agreement.
The teacher, who is not being identified because he was not charged with wrongdoing, now works at a school in another state.
It's how school boards typically handle such matters, Hamilton said in an email sent through a spokeswoman for the schools...

 http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/local/article/Stamford-High-let-teacher-resign-after-incidents-6208729.php#page-1

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