[C]omplaints of assault at Spaulding High School, which one official said are believed to be sexual in nature, have landed a student in juvenile court.
Details of the incident, or incidents, are unclear. Law enforcement officials, school administrators and school board members refused to discuss details of the case. Most cited confidentiality rules around cases involving minors.
In response to reporters’ questions, Barre City police put out a brief statement Tuesday evening confirming that officers had investigated complaints of assault at the school between Nov. 20 and Dec. 4. It’s not clear if those complaints referred to a single incident.
“As a result of these investigations one case is pending in Juvenile court and the other case is at the Washington County States attorney’s office for review,” the statement said. “No further details will be released at this time.”
A Barre City official, who agreed to speak on condition of anonymity, said police had informed him that a sexual assault had occurred at the school. He said two individuals were facing possible charges in the case.
Barre City Police Chief Tim Bombardier would not confirm or deny whether the assault was sexual, or discuss other specifics, referring questions to Washington County State’s Attorney Rory Thibault. Thibault declined to comment.
Barre Superintendent John Pandolfo would not answer questions about whether the school district had investigated an allegation of assault or referred such an incident to law enforcement.
In an statement emailed to VTDigger Monday evening, the superintendent would only say that the district considered “the safety of all students and staff to be its highest priority.”
“Allegations of misconduct of any nature are fully investigated as required by federal and state law, district policy, and school procedures. The confidentiality of all parties is maintained and due process is provided as appropriate in all investigations,” Pandolfo wrote.
Spaulding High School Principal Brenda Waterhouse did not respond to requests for comment. A man who answered the phone at her home Monday refused to take down a reporter’s contact information.
Spaulding High School board chair Paul Malone said Monday he couldn’t “comment on anything of that nature.”
“I cannot divulge anything that has anything to do with minors in our school systems,” he said.
School board clerk Joe Blakely said Tuesday the board hadn’t been notified of an assault at the high school recently. But he also said the board is only told about incidents on a “need-to-know” basis.
“We don’t know unless we need to know,” Blakely said. “And so far, we haven’t needed to know.”
Alan Keays and Mark Johnson contributed reporting.
