(This story by Rob Wolfe was first published in the Valley News on Jan. 4, 2018.)
RANDOLPH — David Barnett, a co-principal at Randolph Union High School, has been placed on paid leave as law enforcement authorities investigate allegations of misconduct involving a former student, according to information provided to parents by school officials.
“The district takes any allegations of misconduct directed against students very seriously,” Orange Southwest School District Superintendent Layne Millington said in a districtwide letter on Tuesday. “We are committed to student safety as our highest priority. If there is any information that parents, students or members of our community have concerning any employee misconduct, we encourage you to report it to us so that we can respond swiftly and appropriately to protect our children.”
Millington’s letter noted that the school district’s standard procedure is to place employees on leave whenever allegations of serious misconduct arise and that no determination had been made about “whether the administrator has violated any expectations for professionalism.”
In a letter to parents on Wednesday, Elijah Hawkes, the co-principal at Randolph High with Barnett, said the allegations “are about actions dating back several years, and were not made by any current RU student.”
Administrators and law enforcement officials did not identify Barnett directly as the official on paid administrative leave, but Hawkes’ letter noted that WCAX had identified Barnett as the school official under investigation.
The letter also names several school officials, but not Barnett, as contact points for parents and students with further questions.
Orange County State’s Attorney Will Porter confirmed that the Orange County Sheriff’s Department was investigating a misconduct report against a Randolph High employee, but declined to provide more details.
The sheriff’s department did not return a request for comment on Thursday, and Barnett could not be reached for comment.
Pietro Lynn, a Burlington-based attorney for the school district, said the allegation surfaced in December, leading the school to immediately place the employee on paid administrative leave — a “non-disciplinary status,” he said.
Lynn said he couldn’t discuss details of the police investigation, and added that school officials likely would conduct their own inquiry after the authorities were finished.
“You can be certain the school is very focused on making sure that students at the school are safe at all times,” he said in a telephone interview.
At the same time as their police report, school officials sent mandatory notifications to the Vermont Agency of Education and the Department for Children and Families, Lynn said.
“The statute having to do with mandatory reporting to DCF requires the report of any abuse or neglect of children,” Lynn said.
Lynn noted that the legal definition of abuse or neglect is “very broad,” and therefore “whenever there are allegations that children have been treated poorly by school employees, they must make a report to DCF.”
Phone messages requesting comment from the state agencies were not returned on Thursday.
Barnett joined Randolph Union High in 2007 as associate principal after turning down a job in Milan, Italy, according to a 2012 story in the Herald.
Before that, he served as an educational consultant in the Vermont Agency of Education, and taught English for 15 years in Ocean City, Maryland.
He became co-principal during the 2010-11 school year, with then-principal John Holmes, and Hawkes joined as the next co-principal after Holmes’ retirement.
In 2012, the Vermont Principals Association named Barnett its “Secondary Principal of the Year.”
Hawkes in his Wednesday letter invited parents and students with further questions to contact school administrators, including its counselors, social worker, student assistance provider, administrative team and the superintendent.
“During periods of uncertainty such as this, it is important that we share what information we have, as we get it, and that we support each other to manage any unanswered questions — which can sometimes be difficult to handle,” Hawkes said.
