GREENWICH, Conn. — The chants for accountability got louder Thursday in the wake of a Greenwich school scandal that has resulted in the suspension of a local school assistant principal and several local and state investigations launched.
Investigations by the state Attorney General, the Greenwich First Selectman and the local Board of Education, and the state Department of Education are all underway following the bombshell video leaked by Project Veritas, which claims to be a non-profit website that provides undercover stories. The first day of school Thursday brought heightened police presence due to the high-profile situation.
It centers around the Cos Cob Elementary School and Assistant Principal Jeremy Boland, who is believed to live in nearby Stamford.
“So then what do you do with the Catholics? If you find out someone is Catholic then what?” asked the undercover Project Veritas questioner in the video.
“You don’t hire them,” Boland replied.
Fran Rabinowitz is the Executive Director of the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents. She said she was “truly shocked and appalled.”
Chris Healy of the Connecticut Catholic Conference added it was “vile, unAmerican, unconstitutional and illegal.”
But is it an isolated incident, or indicative of a pervasive culture of indoctrination in education?
“This is not the thinking of school districts in Connecticut,” said Rabinowitz.
However, Healy disagreed.
“To say something like this can’t occur elsewhere is wishful thinking,” said Healy.
People in Greenwich told FOX61 that the video is more of a case study on human behavior.
“We all have certain biases. Big or small. I’m not saying they are right but we all have them as human beings,” said Diana Rheault.
Some Connecticut conservatives seized the moment to suggest they’ve been victimized.
“Maybe you might yawn at the idea that there’s discrimination against conservatives,” quipped State Rep. Kimberly Fiorello, a Republican who represents Greenwich and Stamford.
“It’s exactly what Castro did,” candidate for U.S. Senate Leora Levy added.
Gov. Ned Lamont, a Democrat, condemned Wednesday what the assistant principal had said in the video.
“Discrimination of any kind has no place in Connecticut, especially in our public schools. This is not aligned with our Connecticut values," he said in a statement.
However, he did question the ethics of the video itself.
“I hate these gotcha guys. Clipping the videos and trying to make political fodder out of it,” Lamont said Thursday.
Boland is heard in the video expounding on the details of discriminatory hiring practices.
“Open-minded, more progressive teachers are actually more savvy about delivering a Democratic message,” Boland is heard saying in the video.
State Education Officials told FOX61 Assistant Principals almost never make hiring decisions alone.
“They may be part of a committee. Usually, we don’t hire in a vacuum,” said Rabinowitz.
Regarding the several investigations, Lamont said if laws were broken, “consequences will be paid.”
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Matt Caron is a reporter at FOX61 News. He can be reached at mcaron@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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