Two lawsuits claim CREC schools wrongfully questioned students over shooting threat, sexual abuse Two recent lawsuits against the Capitol Region Education Council claim the network of Hartford-area magnet schools failed to follow its own policies to protect its students, traumatizing them in the process. One case, filed in June, alleges police ordered a 14-year-old boy off a school bus and “perp-walked” him into Two Rivers Magnet School in November 2015 after then-Principal Robert McCain wrongly implicated the student in an anonymous, violent school threat. The second case, filed in August, alleges a 14-year-old girl was improperly questioned and searched by administrators at Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts during an investigation into the ... Boy, 14, busted & perp-walked into school: Two Rivers Magnet School: The case regarding Two Rivers Magnet School, which CREC closed and merged with a New Britain magnet school in 2017, was previously filed in federal court. The boy’s mother, Thais Ortolaza, sued CREC, several administrators and police officers and the city of Hartford in November 2017, stating that the officials worked together to accuse her son of writing an email to the principal that threatened, “tomorrow im bringing my dads sawed off shotgun and pistol and ending this (expletive) for good," the lawsuit states." A federal judge ultimately dismissed her claims in July, some because they ... Brian Marshall sexual assault charges: Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts: In August 2018, police arrested former CREC teacher Brian Marshall on sexual assault charges in connection with a long relationship he had with female student. Marshall, who taught seventh-grade social studies at Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts Middle School, has pleaded guilty under the Alford doctrine to fourth-degree sexual assault, a misdemeanor, and awaits sentencing, according to court records. Greater Hartford Academy of Arts High School learned of the relationship on Dec. 13, 2017, but failed to follow CREC policies in questioning the victim, according to a lawsuit her mother filed on her ... Continue reading... https://www.courant.com/education/h...0191010-ibn36nssqfcdjeomo23otvjice-story.html
