New harassment claims surface
Records detail allegations against ex-Riverside Magnet School principal who resigned in June
The former East Hartford magnet school principal who resigned in June amid sexual harassment complaints allegedly told school employees that he faced similar allegations when he worked as a West Hartford school administrator, according to recently released records.
Those records also detail the harassment accusations that 40year-old Jasdeep Singh faced in East Hartford, including allegations that he attempted to kiss at least two magnet school employees and made sexual comments to them.
“He told me that these rumors have happened to him before and that they weren’t true,” an unnamed employee of Riverside Magnet School in East Hartford said in her formal complaint against Singh. “He told me that he had to resign from his previous job because of these allegations.”
But Singh’s West Hartford personnel file includes no mention of inappropriate behavior. In fact, records of his 14 years as a teacher and principal include only glowing reports, including letters from parents expressing their appreciation for Singh’s work as a science teacher.
Singh, who could not be reached for comment, last worked in West Hartford as principal of Wolcott Elementary School. He quit that job in 2016 to
take the position at Riverside, a magnet school run by Goodwin College and an Old Lyme-based educational service center called LEARN. Singh quit the job at Riverside in early June after being presented with findings of an investigation into sexual harassment complaints.
A magnet school employee said she went to a bar with Singh in October and as they were leaving, Singh got into the passenger side of her car and then leaned in to kiss her, according to her complaint. Singh called her phone several times after, and the woman told him she “was very scared and upset” with his behavior.
“We agreed not to tell anyone, and I wanted to pretend like it never happened as I was nervous that this could greatly affect the life of his wife and child,” the woman wrote.
Although she tried to establish “hard boundaries” with Singh, the woman said he continued making inappropriate comments, saying he could not stop thinking about her, that she was beautiful, that he was jealous when he heard her laugh at another person’s joke because “he only wants me to laugh at him,” according to her complaint. Singh also bought her gifts, including a book and a margarita salt dish, the school employee wrote. Another employee told her that Singh had said behind the complainant’s back “that he wanted to see her boobs” and described his demeanor toward her as “almost obsessive,” the complainant wrote.
She said Singh told her that false allegations had been made against him in West Hartford because another employee wanted his position. She also heard from another employee that Singh had said he also was accused of inappropriate behavior in college, the complaint says.
A second Riverside employee said in her complaint that Singh once tried to kiss her and on another occasion he tried to kiss her on the lips after the two left a bar in September 2017, but she turned away and he kissed her cheek and then her shoulder. Both incidents happened outside school, the complaint says.
“I wouldn’t have come forward based on these two incidents. They weren’t a big deal, just small things,” the employee wrote. “But I now know that they help paint a bigger picture of a pattern.”
She also quoted Singh saying, “Stand with me (during lunch duty). I have an erection.” On another occasion, the woman said, Singh told her, “I wouldn’t let you out of the house if I was … with you in that dress.”
Just before Christmas break last year, Singh said to her, “You know … we are going to make out some day,” the employee wrote in her complaint. “I responded, ‘No, we are not,’ ” she wrote.
The employee also said Singh talked about his previous job.
“He specifically told me there was going to be an investigation if he didn’t leave,” she wrote.
In a letter to the investigator of the sexual harassment complaints and the LEARN staff, Singh wrote, “I feel terrible about the impact my unwise choices apparently have had on individuals.”
“Though I don’t feel as though I’ve violated the policy, I recognize the serious nature of what we discussed and the improvements I need to make,” he wrote, according to a copy of the undated letter released in response to The Courant’s FOI request.
Singh ended the letter by writing, “I am truly apologetic for my choices that made this process necessary.”
Singh started his career in the West Hartford school system. He was hired as a Sedgwick Middle School teacher in 2003 and taught science at the school for nearly a decade, earning tenure along the way. His personnel file from West Hartford includes two letters from parents praising his teaching skills.
“We are truly amazed at Mr. Singh’s ability to relate well to the students and stay in close touch with the parents,” one letter says. “Mr. Singh called our home at least twice this year to give us an update of (the son’s) progress. In the 5 years we have had children at Sedgwick, he has been the only one to call with Good News!!!”
In Oct. 2012, Singh left the middle school to serve as the interim assistant principal at Hall High School. In that position, the file says, he earned a salary of nearly $119,000, which was more than three times as much as his starting salary as a teacher.
The month that he took the interim position — which was his first administrative role, according to his personnel file — Singh earned a certificate for completing a sexual harassment prevention training, his file shows. This type of training is standard for new administrators in West Hartford.
At the end of the 2012-13 school year — about two weeks after he earned his PhD in education from the University of Hartford — the West Hartford school district announced that Singh would be taking over as principal of Wolcott Elementary School. He stepped into that role in the summer of 2013.
He stayed in that position for three years until taking the job in 2016 at what was then the Goodwin College Early Childhood Magnet School. At the time of his resignation, Singh’s salary was set at more than $145,000.
His resignation letter was filled with warmth and nostalgia.
“This was a difficult decision, as you can imagine, because of the pride and appreciation I have for Wolcott and West Hartford,” Singh wrote. “As I get ready to become a parent myself this fall, I am lucky to have been able to learn so much from each of you about kids, love, and compassion.”