SCHENECTADY — An internal investigation prompted by a sexual harassment complaint triggered Schenectady Superintendent of Schools Larry Spring's sudden resignation in March.
The complaint was filed by a woman who is employed by Capital Region BOCES but works within the city school system. The district's outside counsel, the Rochester-based law firm Harris Beach, investigated the matter and delivered its findings to the school board in March.
The completion of the investigation, conducted by the firm's Government Compliance and Investigations team, preceded the striking of a deal between the district and the superintendent that paved the way for Spring's resignation from his $204,064-a-year post, which he had held since June 2012.
In the weeks since the March 25 announcement, the 50-year-old Spring and the school board have declined to discuss what led to the abrupt resignation of the educator, who had honed a reputation as a champion for his district as well as other urban schools that according to Spring have remained woefully underfunded.
The findings and conclusions of the months-long investigation portray a man whose conduct toward the complainant and others was "part of a pattern" in which he targeted younger, sometimes untenured female teachers, according to a copy of the law firm's report reviewed by the Times Union.
PREVIOUSLY: Spring resigns as Schenectady school superintendent
The report also mentions that during the course of the investigation into Spring's behavior, investigators anonymously received several photographs of Spring either partially or completely nude. Some of the photographs appear to have been taken on school property, the report states.
The photographs reflected poor judgment on Spring's part and could potentially expose the district to liability issues, the investigators concluded. The report did not, however, recommend any specific disciplinary action that should be taken against Spring.
In the course of its reporting, the Times Union also obtained multiple pictures that appear to show Spring in various stages of undress.
The report said that women interviewed in the course of the probe alleged that if those approached by Spring rejected him, he would in some cases ignore them and give them the silent treatment. It recommended that the district re-train its staff on its sexual harassment and anti-retaliation policies.
The woman who filed the complaint against Spring did not respond to messages from the Times Union, which as a general matter does not identify the victims of alleged sexual harassment.
Asked about the complaint, Audrey Hendricks, BOCES communications and public relations coordinator, said that the organization has "a longstanding policy of not commenting on personnel matters.”
READ MORE: Secrecy is part of exit pact for Schenectady superintendent Larry Spring
Douglas Gerhardt, the Harris Beach attorney for the Schenectady school district, said he was not authorized to speak to the media before hanging up the phone. School board members either declined comment or did not return calls.
On the day his resignation was announced, Spring and the school district reached a separation agreement that stipulated Spring would not take legal action against the district, and neither party would speak or write negative or disparaging comments about the other. The five-page agreement, which includes Spring's one-sentence resignation letter, also includes a confidentiality clause.
Spring, who is married with two children, would not respond to the allegations.
"Legally, the district and I are bound by confidentiality and that is something I take very seriously," he said in an email to the Times Union. "I believe in treating people with respect and am very proud of the work and dedication the entire team put forth at the Schenectady City School District over the past eight years. I wish them nothing but the best going forward."
CLICK: Schenectady school district poised to embark on superintendent search
Jacinda Conboy, general counsel for the state Council of School Superintendents, was listed as Spring's attorney on the separation agreement. Conboy did not respond to requests for comment.
Public agencies cannot use confidentiality agreements to block public access to records that expose alleged wrongdoing by officials. In November 2017, a state Supreme Court justice ordered the town of Milton to unseal a settlement agreement between the town and a woman who accused then-Supervisor Daniel Lewza of harassment. The report on Spring from Harris Beach is, however, a product of an attorney-client relationship; it was marked throughout as not subject to public disclosure.
In the three years since the #MeToo movement was sparked in part by revelations of widespread sexual misconduct by film mogul Harvey Weinstein, confidentiality agreements in matters involving alleged sexual harassment in the workplace have come under heavy criticism. While many institutions say such arrangements allow alleged victims to maintain their privacy after an episode of sexual harassment, advocates argue that they make it more likely that abusers will be able to find a new venue for bad behavior.
Harris Beach's billing records, obtained by the Times Union through a Freedom of Information Law request, were so heavily redacted by the school district as to make it impossible to determine what matters they pertained to. But the "general operations" section of the bills for the first three months of 2020 showed a four-fold increase in March, when Spring's matter was resolved: In January and February, the law firm billed the district the exact same amount ($1,870) for the same number of hours of labor (8.5) by four attorneys; in March, the bill was $7,646 for almost 35 billable hours completed by eight lawyers.
Spring remained on the district's payroll through April 22 as he used up accrued personal and vacation time. On the same night the district accepted his resignation, the board of education appointed Aaron Bochniak, the district's director of planning and accountability, as acting superintendent. The district said it would conduct a search for a new schools chief.
The controversy is another blemish for the district that hired Spring in the aftermath of revelations that his predecessor as superintendent, Eric Ely, had ignored warnings about the conduct of Steven Raucci, the district's facilities director. Raucci was convicted in 2010 of mounting an intimidation campaign that included planting explosives on the vehicles and homes of people who he believed had crossed him.
In 2013, Ely resigned from his subsequent job in Southbridge, Mass., after being investigated for misconduct. The nature of that investigation never came to light.
Spring, who previously served a six-year tenure as superintendent of the Cortland Enlarged School District, took the reins in Schenectady as an ambitious leader and evolved into a fierce advocate for impoverished students in the urban district of nearly 10,000 students.
The Times Union recently interviewed two current employees who said they had been pursued by Spring. The women, who also told their stories to Harris Beach’s investigators, spoke to the Times Union on condition of anonymity due to concerns about potential career retribution.
They gave similar accounts of Spring lavishing them with praise over social media for their academic work, and then trying to arrange off-campus get-togethers. Neither filed complaints against Spring.
One of the women recalled that Spring initially reached out to her via Twitter in 2016, and thanked her for liking one of his posts. She said that soon after that, she began seeing him showing up along the route she would take to go to the bathroom during her breaks.
A few times, Spring came to her classroom after school when students weren't around, she said. "He was dropping some hints about meeting off-campus, but for the most part it was professional," she said. The woman was, however, concerned about being the subject of gossip: "We'd be in there with the door shut, and he would come out, and it was weird."
She said Spring didn't seem too upset when she asked him to stop the after-class visits. "I think he tries to push it as far as he can," she said.
She broke off her interaction with Spring after he approached her from behind in a conference room and put himself in such proximity that she felt uncomfortable as he showed her blueprints for a school construction project. She stiffened up and told Spring she had to leave.
"This was the point that I knew this had to stop, because this was the moment that I believe he tried to see if I would become physical with him," she said.
Spring initially used Twitter to reach out to the second woman, who was at that point new to the district.
She acknowledged that the attention and the compliments from Spring initially flattered her. That began to change when her colleagues started noticing their interaction.
"I didn't think that every superintendent spent that much time with a particular teacher, but you digest and internalize some of these comments, and you're like, 'Maybe he does think I'm great,'" she said.
She said she gave Spring her personal cell phone number after he suggested texting might be easier to "exchange notes."
She said someone left an anonymous note on her desk "warning me about the way he moves on women," including trying to get them to send him pictures of themselves.
Spring had asked her for a photo, and after she sent him an innocuous vacation image he seemed disappointed, she said. "So it freaked me out that I was being manipulated in this game," she said. "I tried to slowly back off — like message a little less, but not to where it would make him mad."
"He really wants to meet off-campus and test the water with comments to see if you are thinking the same thing that he's thinking," she said, referring to her impression of Spring's communication.
She said Spring eventually got the hint and mostly left her alone.
Juliet Benaquisto, president of the Schenectady Federation of Teachers union and a 31-year veteran with the district, is confident Schenectady's schools will rebound under Bochniak.
"We, as a district, must move forward by creating an atmosphere of respect and culture of personal safety that will allow our dedicated staff to serve our students in a hostility-free workplace," she said.
pnelson@timesunion.com
"behavior" - Google News
May 17, 2020 at 07:17AM
https://ift.tt/3bxs5Yk
Superintendent's exit followed internal report on behavior with women - Times Union
"behavior" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2We9Kdi
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Superintendent's exit followed internal report on behavior with women - Times Union"
Post a Comment