EL school district checks ‘alleged harassment’ on Spirit Week

Police not contacted; no complaints filed

East Lyme— The superintendent of schools informed parents Thursday that the district is investigating the “alleged harassment of some of our high school students by other students during SpiritWeek activities,” but said he would not discuss any individual student.

In a letter to parents and guardians, Superintendent Jeffrey R. Newton said the district will “not tolerate harassment, disrespectful behavior or any other inappropriate conduct toward any of our students.”

“In the rare situations when we receive allegations of such conduct, we investigate the claim immediately, assuring that the rights of all students involved are fully respected,” Newton wrote. “If we find that any students have in fact been treated inappropriately in any way, we will take the steps necessary to keep students safe and hold the responsible students accountable for their actions.”

Citing federal privacy laws, Newton said the district will not comment on any student.

Newton’s letter was posted on the school district’swebsite.

The East Lyme Police Department is not involved in the investigation. The resident state trooper, Sgt. Wilfred Blanchette III, said Thursday the school never contacted police to respond to any racial incident.

Officer Jean Cavanaugh, an investigator/youth officer for the town police department, said the department has not received any complaints from students or parents about Spirit Week activities.

Several parents and students have told The Day that an incident occurred Friday in which some students staged a prank lynching and carried a Confederate flag.

Cavanaugh said the department’s only involvement with Spirit Week was to issue an infraction to a student for possession of a small amount of marijuana on Friday, Oct. 24.

Cavanaugh said school officials searched the youth’s car and reported to her that they had found a black

backpack with a couple of beer cans and the marijuana.

The student, whose name is not being released because of his age, was referred to juvenile court. Day staff writers Karen Florin and Izaskun E. Larraneta contributed to this report.