Stonington school board to move on from Chokas issue

No talk of discipline for principal, superintendent

Stonington — The Board of Education agreed Wednesday night to move forward from the Chokas controversy and implement policies to ensure a similar situation does not happen in the future.

Board members did not discuss taking disciplinary action against school officials such as Superintendent of Schools Van Riley and high school Principal Mark Friese or making a formal apology to the numerous girls who say they were the target of inappropriate touching and sexually charged comments by former high school teacher Timothy Chokas from 2004 to 2019, when he resigned following another complaint.

“I hope and pray every student who spoke up can move forward,” board member Gordon Lord said.

“We need to make sure policies are in place to make sure this does not happen again,” board member Craig Esposito added.

A review by The Day showed there were policies in place at the time of the Chokas complaints but school officials failed to follow them.

Board member Jack Morehouse said what bothered him most was that there were red flags prior to complaints received in 2017 and steps should have been taken, such as stopping Chokas from coaching the girls' golf team, after players complained about him.

Morehouse said the situation was not managed properly. “Someone along the way should have said, 'Enough is enough,'” he said.

Board Chairman Frank Todisco said that among the board's action will be to ensure policies are in place so teachers know what they can and can't do and students know they can report complaints without retribution.

Earlier in the meeting, attorney Christine Chinni, who conducted an investigation into how school officials handled the complaints, told the board that she did not think it was a good idea to track down female students who had made sexual harassment complaints about Chokas.

“I made it clear I would not hunt students down,” said Chinni, who was hired by the board this winter to investigate and recently completed a 53-page report.

Administrators had no idea of problems

Chinni again stressed that she found no evidence that school officials had any idea of any problems with Chokas prior to 2017.

She came to that conclusion despite a 2013 email from school officials, obtained by The Day, in which they state they had received a complaint that Chokas had patted girls on the buttocks, picked up a girl and held her like a baby and wore his fleece halfway unzipped without a shirt underneath.

Chinni told school board members that her review of the voluminous documents provided to her by school officials involved other concerns about coaches, such as yelling at players, but nothing about patting girls on the buttocks.

She said she talked to one player who said she “saw nothing” but did not talk to other players or coaches.

But Chinni's report states the player she interviewed said Chokas hit her on the buttocks with a cane, pinched her face and massaged her shoulders and thighs. On a number of occasions she said Chokas invited her and other female students to eat lunch in his room, where he made them paninis. She said that when she would sit and eat, Chokas would place his legs on top of hers.

Chinni also said she did not talk to four students who complained about Chokas in 2017.

Chinni defends investigation

She told the board she interviewed any witnesses who contacted her but did not try to contact anyone, including those who made complaints.

Chinni also said no teachers reached out to talk to her and she did not try to contact them because she had no reason to interview particular teachers.

But many students and former career center employee Kate Milde have said Chokas' actions were well known among faculty members. Chinni said it is not the case that teachers know what is occurring in another teacher's classroom.

In written comments read at the beginning of the meeting, resident Tracy Swain referred to Chinni's investigation as a “joke of a report” and said it was time to get all of those involved in the cover-up out of the system.

Riley: Action being taken

Riley, the superintendent, presented the board with a list of 60 actions the school system has taken over the past two years to improve the system's response to issues such as sexual harassment.

“As you can see, we have taken these issues very seriously,” he told the board.

Riley also told the board that students are now expressing concerns that “if they say something now (about sexual harassment), their names will appear on the front page of the newspaper."

Throughout its 15 months of reporting on the Chokas issue, The Day has only printed the names of young adult women who have agreed to let The Day to use their names in connection with their complaints.

Chinni wrote in her 53-page report that she found no evidence of a cover-up by school officials, even though they failed to place complaints against Chokas in 2017 and 2019 in his personnel file and girls were not offered an opportunity to put their complaints in writing as required by school policy. A 2017 memo ordering Chokas to develop “a personal action plan that outlines strategies and practices that will prevent your students from developing uncomfortable feelings in your classroom” also was not placed in his personnel file.

Chinni also failed to include in her report any reference to the June letter that 2020 graduate Alexandra Kapell, the student representative to the school board, wrote to the board saying the school has a “massive problem with sexual assault and harassment.” Chinni said Wednesday she did not try to interview Kapell.

Chinni's report also states female students did not feel comfortable coming forward to complain, in part because they felt Chokas' behavior was well known in the school and nothing had ever been done about it and school officials had never informed them about how to report such behavior. A number of students expressed the belief that the administration knew about

Chokas' behavior and either condoned it or did not take it seriously.

Many former students have told The Day and posted on social media that Chokas repeatedly touched female students inappropriately and made inappropriate comments to them dating back to 2004.

At a state Freedom of Information Commission hearing last fall, Riley and Friese testified under oath that the complaints lodged against Chokas by students were not considered complaints but “reports” and “concerns.” This meant they were never placed in his personnel file.

Those who have spoken to The Day say the behavior was pervasive, occurred daily and was well known in the school community. A January 2019 complaint led to Chokas being placed on paid administrative leave. He then was allowed to resign and be paid the remainder of his $81,396 salary through the rest of the school year using accrued vacation time. He also received benefits and assurances from the school system they would not discuss or fire him.