Stonington — The attorney investigating how school officials handled the complaints against former high school teacher and coach Timothy Chokas told the Board of Education on Tuesday night that over the past two weeks she has interviewed 14 more students, parents and community members.

Attorney Chris Chinni told the board she wants to continue with her interviews, as they have led to more people who want to speak to her and she has additional interviews planned. The interviews originally were expected to be wrapped up by June 1.

“Right now people are contacting me on a regular basis, so I don’t want to discourage people by cutting them off June 1,” she told the board. "Given that people are still coming forward, I want to give them more time.”

She said ending the interviews now would send the wrong message that the board is not interested in hearing from people.

The board agreed, telling Chinni to continue with her interviews.

“Let the process play out. We’re interested in getting the truth here. If it takes a little longer, so be it,” board member Jack Morehouse said.

Chinni continues to ask anyone with information about Chokas and how complaints were handled to contact her at SPSinvestigation@chinniandmeuser.com or (860) 677-0255.

She said the interviews have given her information about Chokas from 2006 to 2019. After she is done interviewing students, parents and community members, she plans to reinterview school administrators and staff she spoke to at the beginning of the probe.

Morehouse also suggested that Chinni investigate whether there are records at the school of female students who transferred out of Chokas' classes due to his alleged behavior. “I know of one student who did and I guess there are others,” he said.

Chinni said she has spoken to several students who left his classes.

She stressed that her interviews are not interrogations and she tells those she talks to that she just wants to hear what they have to say. “Students have told me they appreciated having the chance to tell their story,” she said.

Board member Alisa Morrison said she had heard from one former student and the girl’s mother who spoke to Chinni and said they appreciated her approach to the interview.

In addition to those who complained about Chokas to school staff, Chinni said she is interested in speaking with those who did not come forward. She wants to know why, whether it was because they may have been afraid or felt there was no one they could comfortably talk to, or another reason.

The numerous complaints against Chokas involve alleged inappropriate touching of and making inappropriate comments to female students. Those who have spoken to The Day say the touching was pervasive, occurred daily and dated back to 2004.

Superintendent Van Riley and Principal Mark Friese testified under oath that the various reports lodged against Chokas by students, referred to in school documents and emails in 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2019, were not considered complaints but “reports” and “concerns.” This meant complaints were not placed in Chokas’ personnel file and he was never disciplined.

A review of the policies and procedures by The Day in January shows administrators repeatedly failed to follow their own requirements when handling the numerous complaints against Chokas.

In January 2019, a female student complained to a staff member that Chokas was touching a female classmate and making inappropriate comments to her. That incident led to Chokas being allowed to resign with his full salary of $81,396 and benefits through the end of the school year. The district also agreed not to fire him or disclose any information concerning his employment to anyone, except as required by law. The Day disclosed the events leading up to Chokas’ resignation in June 2019.

j.wojtas@theday.com