New London — News that Mayor Michael Passero has scheduled a consultation with the Office of the Child Advocate to request an independent review of the goings-on in the New London school district is being met with a mix of surprise and support from some school board members.

A scandal that has shaken the school district and New London community has so far included the arrests of three school employees: two on sexual assault charges and another for allegedly failing to fulfill her role as a mandated reporter.

New London Human Services Director Jeanne Milstein earlier this month called on state Child Advocate Sarah Eagan to get a higher level and outside view of the district. The child advocate monitors and evaluates public and private agencies charged with the protection of children, and reviews state agency policies and procedures to ensure they protect children's rights.

Investigations are ongoing as New London police detectives delve into what some community members have said are systemic problems that have persisted for years. Multiple employees have been placed on leave as allegations of inappropriate interactions between employees and students — not all are substantiated — come forward.

“The situation, that continues to unravel itself in small pieces, is starting to tell a historical story that some are describing as a ‘culture’ that formed over many years,” Superintendent Cynthia Ritchie said in an emailed statement to The Day.

“Being new to the district I do not know how to evaluate that statement yet. I have more questions now than answers,” she said.

Ritchie, hired as superintendent on July 1, is generally credited for her swift reaction to an unfolding crisis and recently authorized an independent consultant to perform a human resource audit to analyze personnel files of district hires over the past five or 10 years.

It turns out that two of the three employees now facing criminal charges had serious federal criminal convictions. One of those charged was hired in 2014 and would have worked under six different superintendents or interim superintendents since his hire.

Milstein was the state child advocate for more than a decade and said she knows firsthand how the child advocate’s office can play a supporting role in helping to guide the district out of the current crisis. Milstein’s office conducted an exhaustive joint investigation with the attorney general’s office into five different school districts.

The result of the investigation was a 66-page report issued in 2010: “Protecting Our Children: Improving protections for children when allegations are made that school system personnel abused and/or neglected children.”

The report explored the “systems in place to protect children in schools, screening processes for certification of administrators, teachers and coaches; screening processes for hiring school employees; mandated reporting laws; the quality of the investigations of allegations that school employees have abused or neglected children; and the responses from school districts, the Department of Children and Families, and the state Department of Education.”

The investigation revealed significant issues and led to changes in the policies and practices of local school districts, Department of Children and Families and Department of Education.

“We don’t want to miss anything,” Milstein said. “We want accountability and transparency and I think the child advocate would be able to help us with that.”

Ritchie said she was open to “any other professional suggestions to be offered," but said the purpose is unclear since there was not a collaborative discussion between board and city regarding this action.

“I am not sure what this group would do that we are not already doing, but am open to listening as the entire community shares in the same goals for students,” Ritchie said.

New London School Board President Manny Rivera, like others board members, said he was surprised the mayor’s office had not informed the schools of the move and said the district already was in the middle of a comprehensive review of policies and procedures to identify any gaps that might exist.

He said the board has taken responsibility and now is looking at strengthening its polices and adding regulations where needed “to make sure there are checks and balances in place to catch potential problems.”

As for the child advocate getting involved, Rivera said, “I’d certainly be interested in seeing what they had to offer but let’s understand clearly where the responsibility lies. It lies with us. Clearly, it’s in our hands to make changes necessary in concert with parents and the greater community involvement. I think this is going to be transformational.”

Rivera served as superintendent for two and a half years, starting on Feb. 1, 2015, and was superintendent in 2017 when some of the crimes are alleged to have been committed.

School board Vice President Jefferey Hart said Ritchie had independently concluded that the district needed to bring in outside resources to perform an aggressive audit, “and was briefing the board and public on the subject, when we read about the mayor's proposal in The Day.”

“I welcome the additional resources the Office of Child Advocate can bring, but I would ask for better communication from the administration, because we're all on the same team, and we should be coordinating our efforts,” Hart said.

Board member Mirna Martinez said she was fully supportive of the review. “I want to know that no stone is left unturned regarding the analysis of policy, process and procedures," she said. "I also believe that part of our work towards a positive path forward is city and schools working collaboratively in envisioning our future. In an instance such as this, it could look like a simple phone call to the superintendent regarding the planned support and rationale prior to reading this in the paper.”

Passero said he is completely satisfied with the level of cooperation between the school district and detectives and in Ritchie’s handling of the situation.

“When this came to light, she took strong actions, put safeguards in place for the schoolchildren’s safety. I have complete faith in her and what she’s doing but it doesn’t mean my responsibilities for the city end and I shouldn’t look for additional resources,” Passero said.

“I turned to my human services director, who has lived in this world. There is no harm in the city working to understand what needs to be done,” Passero said.

Board member Jason Catala said he was in favor of “any and all investigations and audits to the district at this point.”

“Every single department needs to be investigated. The New London Schools has many great employees, but the events that have taken place are cause for much concern, as to who was hired under these sketchy circumstances,” Catala said. “The superintendent has done a good job so far in dealing with all that is going on.”

Catala said he thinks the entire situation could have been avoided had the district been more responsible with hiring.

“During my tenure the process has gone from following the board’s hiring process to not following it. There are some administrators who hired people who should not have been working with children. I have been fighting for years to have a check and balance on all new hires. The board needs a monthly personnel report with details of who is being hired. These details need to include names and specific information about the new hires. The board also has a policy where board members are supposed to be on all certified hiring committees. This is not followed, it's wrong,” he said.

The strategic plan Ritchie wrote for the district in the fall outlines 150 specific goals and was drafted to do two things: “bring on new initiatives and to improve in areas that were clearly weaknesses,” Ritchie said.

“A month on the job I could clearly see critical areas in need of immediate attention. This data kicked off our school year with transparency, high expectations and new layers of accountability. With that said, I did not craft in specific goals for ethics as it never crossed my mind I would need to," she said in her email. "Being a moral, honest, and ethical child-advocate is an expected attribute of serving in the field of education.”

“My heart, like so many others, is saddened and disgusted from the news we all continue to learn about,” Ritchie said in the email. “I continue to trust the investigatory process and thank DCF, the many detectives, and (New London police Capt. Brian Wright) who are working diligently around the clock to trace any lead to ensure justice. Our students and our community deserve nothing less.”

The district is full of talented, dedicated and ethical staff who are doing wonderful work serving students and families, Ritchie said.

“I am grateful to be surrounded by so many wonderful people who are genuinely pure and passionate educators. This is an honorable profession that is not just a job for most, but a lifestyle of commitment and service. We continue to focus forward with our commitment to our vision to be United in Excellence,” she said.

g.smith@theday.com