A Westchester County high school principal is resigning after a damning report found he covered up for students who took lewd pictures of special education peers in the bathroom.
Two of the four teens involved confessed to the disturbing deed at Fox Lane High School in Bedford, NY last March, but Principal Brett Miller and several other Bedford administrators kept the admissions to themselves even though police were involved, third-party investigator Kroll found.
Miller did not discipline the two boys, the report released Tuesday stated. The involvement of the other pair only emerged after investigators reviewed footage.
“The administrative team was more focused on covering themselves through lies, misdirection and avoidance than they were on the well-being of the students they claim to always put first,” Karen Close, the mother of one of the victimized kids, told CBS News.
Close’s daughter, Jennifer, blamed student culture for the act against her brother, stating his harassers through it was funny to take and share pictures of their vulnerable classmates.
“There is an obvious problem with the students in this school district and as the leaders of this school district you need to find a way to break through to these students in a beneficial way,” said Close.
Miller will remain employed at the district, though not as principal, through June, but plans to resign sooner if he finds other employment, Bedford Superintendent Robert Glass said at a Wednesday school board meeting.
Another school district employee who knew of the confessions, Director of Pupil Services Edward Escobar, is on leave “for the foreseeable future.”
According to the Kroll report, a student whistleblower alerted school administrators to the invasion of privacy. The two boys admitted they were behind the act 10 days later.
Miller, the school’s assistant principal and Dignity for All Students Act coordinator were also all aware of the confessions but did not discipline the boys or tell police they’d found the culprits, the report said.
The Dignity for All Students Act is a state law designed to root out discrimination and harassment in schools.
Despite being aware of the two students who confessed, Miller told police there was “still no evidence” of who was behind the lewd videos and photos.
At a school board meeting several weeks later, Miller also told parents that “nobody cracked” during student interviews.
The Kroll report found “no one in the administration took charge of the investigation into the reported misconduct and no one took responsibility for ensuring key constituencies were provided timely and accurate information.”
“Multiple times during the investigation the information which was provided was incomplete and/or inaccurate which in turn hindered the Superintendent from properly discharging his duties to the Board and the community,” it said.
At Kroll’s suggestion, the Bedford School District is implementing training for school administrators for effective communication during investigations and is working to revise its parental notification policy, Lohud reported.
Glass said the district will also review its DASA training to ensure it meets the highest standard.
“The release of this report has opened a wound that had not fully healed following an egregious event,” Glass said.
“This is about being reliable. This is about being accountable. This is about rebuilding trust all around.”