Swampscott teacher on leave after remarks to students questioned

SWAMPSCOTT – A high school teacher has been placed on administrative leave after allegations that he or she made inappropriate remarks to students.”The first priority of the Swampscott Public Schools is the well-being of our students,” Superintendent Lynne Celli read Monday afternoon from a prepared statement issued by High School Principal Layne Millington. “This is, and will always be, our primary concern. Because of this, a Swampscott High School teacher has been placed on administrative leave pending investigation into possible inappropriate comments made to students.”Celli said that no students were harmed in the alleged incident and remain safe.”Pending the investigation and following due process, advice from the district’s legal counsel and the Swampscott Education Association (the teacher’s union) will be solicited and then appropriate action will be taken,” Celli continued.Celli declined to answer when the alleged incident occurred or what was said. She referred further questions to Millington, who she said was handling the incident. Millington was not at school and unavailable for comment late Monday afternoon.School Committee Chair Jacqueline Kinney said she could not comment pending an ongoing investigation.School Committee member Laurier Beaupre said that he knew only that a teacher was placed on leave.”This is a personnel matter and has to be treated with some confidence,” he said, referencing advice from the school district’s attorney James Toomey. Toomey told the school committee at their Sept. 21 meeting that privacy laws and employment protocols made it difficult for administrators to share information.At the same meeting, Beaupre and fellow school committee member Rick Kraft were tasked with devising a communications policy for the district.Monday, both expressed confidence in school administrators.Kraft added that he was confident that this and several other recent incidents did not seem to suggest any underlying problem that needed to be addressed. As in any incident, however, part of the investigation would include evaluating whether broader issues were at play when more is known about the incident.”We’ve had more than our share recently, but hopefully that’s a part of natural variation in probability,” Kraft said. “It doesn’t seem like there’s any common thread that goes between (the incidents).”