Stonington — Sarah Eagan, who heads the state Office of the Child Advocate, said Tuesday that she is working on the final draft of her review of how school officials handled the sexual harassment allegations against former Stonington High School teacher and coach Timothy Chokas and plans to publish her report next month.

Before then, Eagan said she will submit the draft of the report to the school system for its review.

Eagan began her review in July 2019 after The Day published the first of a series of stories about the allegations against Chokas and how school officials responded to them. Eagan is looking into whether school officials followed the policies in place at the time and if improvements are needed.

A review by The Day showed that school officials failed to follow those policies.

Completion of Eagan's report was delayed not only by the COVID-19 pandemic but the fact she had other investigations to complete, including one involving the New London school system and one last month that focused on the application of adult disciplinary actions on children and young adults in the state prison system, including at the Janet S. York Correctional Institution in Niantic.

Earlier this year the school board hired an attorney to conduct its own investigation. Christine Chinni found there was no coverup by school officials even though testimony and documents show that when female students complained about Chokas, their complaints were never placed in his personnel file and he was never disciplined.

In compiling her report, Chinni failed to seek out and interview female students central to the complaints about Chokas and who are mentioned in school system documents, as well as the many who posted their allegations on various social media platforms. Chinni has said she let people contact her with their concerns.

While school officials have since taken steps to improve their policies involving sexual harassment, the school board has taken no disciplinary action against school officials involved in the Chokas matter, such as Superintendent of Schools Van Riley and Principal Mark Friese.

In addition, the school board has not acted on a recommendation by board member Heidi Simmons that the school system should issue an official statement of support for all students and families adversely affected by Chokas' alleged actions.

j.wojtas@theday.com