New London — Citing his failure to maintain the required state certification, school district Superintendent Cynthia Ritchie has fired former middle school administrator Lawrence Washington.

Washington, who started the school year as the district’s director of health, physical education and athletics, was notified of the dismissal in a Dec. 26 letter in which Ritchie said a call to the state Department of Education revealed his Administrative Certification had expired in November and that in his eight years in the district he had failed to complete the required college coursework necessary to obtain a renewal.

Ritchie said Washington “has never applied for, nor maintained, a current Teaching Certification within the state of Connecticut.”

Washington was told to hand in his school-issued phone, identification badge, swipe card and other paraphernalia and that his last day would be Dec. 27.

A spokesman for the state Department of Education confirmed Washington held a provisional endorsement for intermediate administration and supervision from Dec. 1, 2011 to Nov. 30, 2019. His certification was contingent on his completing his remaining credits, a master's degree plus an additional 30 credits, in order to advance his provisional certification to professional certification.

Washington, in the letter, is reminded the district has openings in non-certified positions if he is interested in applying. Washington has an undergraduate degree in elementary education, a graduate degree in curriculum and instruction and obtained a principal certification while in Pennsylvania.

Hired by the district in 2011 under former Superintendent Nicholas Fischer, Washington is a former school administrator from Pennsylvania who had started as an English teacher and was promoted to dean of students and later director of curriculum at The Academy, a small charter school in Pennsylvania.

His resume also cites his work as assistant principal of curriculum and instruction and as assistant principal of student services at Clayton Academy, also in Pennsylvania. He was working as an assistant principal at the Woodland Hills School District in Pennsylvania when he was hired by the New London school district.

Among the four professional references listed with his resume are three Pennsylvania school administrators and longtime New London school administrator Louis Allen Jr., who at the time of Washington’s hire was the director of the New London Science & Technology Magnet High School and is Washington’s former father-in-law.

Files obtained by The Day show Washington was notified he was being hired by the New London school district to serve as the interim dean/teacher at New London High School in June 2011.

He was named assistant principal of New London High School in June 2012 with a salary of $122,071. Under former Superintendent Richard Foye, Washington was transferred to assistant principal at Bennie Dover Jackson Middle School in 2014.

He was named the director of STEM magnet middle school programs in 2015 under Superintendent Manuel Rivera, with a salary of $131,748. Under a new administrative structure developed by Ritchie last year, Washington was named the director of health and physical education (K-12) and athletics (6-12.)

Washington’s departure comes amid major changes in leadership in the district following the hiring of Ritchie in 2018 and later, in 2019, when a police investigation led to a series of bombshell revelations and the arrest of three school employees. One of those now-former employees, middle school climate specialist Corriche Gaskin, faces multiple felony charges that include the sexual assault of two middle school students in 2017. One of those assaults allegedly took place in his office and another in a storage closet at the middle school. Gaskin, a non-certified employee, allegedly filmed sexual encounters with students and fellow school employees on his cell phone.

There is no known connection between Washington and Gaskin’s alleged crimes though Washington was listed as one of Gaskin’s supervisors.

Another former school paraprofessional and track coach, Jevon Elmore, is charged in the sexual assault of an underage teen. Elmore, who had worked for the district for three years before his firing in 2019, was suspended three different times while working at the school, including once for physical abuse of a student.

Former employee Melissa Rodriguez is charged with failing to fulfill her role as a mandated reporter and report Elmore’s alleged activities.

Both Gaskin and Rodriguez were hired despite federal criminal records.

Washington, who until last year was the director of the STEM magnet program at Bennie Dover Jackson Middle School, was placed on paid administrative leave in 2019 with a host of other administrators, because of pending investigations based on complaints to the district or the state Department of Children and Families. It came at a time when the school was grappling with the fallout of the sexual assault revelations.

Washington returned to work and placed on leave again in August, “pending a fact-finding investigation,” according to an Aug. 29 letter to Washington from school administrator Kate McCoy. The letter, obtained by The Day as part of a Freedom of Information Act request, does not go into further detail.

Washington could not be reached for comment.

The school scandal has led to a host of changes in the district and an ongoing investigation by the state Office of the Child Advocate. Ritchie, earlier this year, enlisted a firm to perform an independent human resources office audit to examine hundreds of employee files.

That audit turned up missing files that “reflected a failure to maintain proof that certain procedures, checks, and trainings were completed,” but determined the missing documents were not necessarily an indication the checks and training were not performed.

Ritchie, in an email on Friday, said Washington’s former job is already posted and that Kate McCoy, Washington’s supervisor, would take on duties of that position on an interim basis, alongside existing coaches and assistants.

McCoy said the revelation of Washington’s missing certification is not a result of the HR audit but rather part of the regular personnel file reviews being completed regularly by the district.

“Top of the line practices, accountability and follow through are in place and are expected to stay,” Ritchie said in her email.

Board of Education President Regina Mosley declined comment, describing it as a personnel issue and outside the purview of the school board. The board is the last line in any grievance process, she said.

Washington's departure follows news of the departure of longtime former middle school Principal Alison Burdick, who reached a settlement with the district, agreeing to drop a lawsuit and not apply for another job in the district.

g.smith@theday.com