John Antonucci statement for April 6 School Committee Meeting

It would be an understatement to say that the past two weeks have been challenging for the
Duxbury community. The two issues that we have been dealing with - first, the use of anti-
Semitic language by our football team, and the second, the allegations made against one of our
teachers, has rocked the very foundation of our district culture. We know that members of our
school community, and members of the greater community, are hurt and upset. What is most
upsetting is the negative pall suddenly cast over our school district, which does not reflect the
incredible work that our educators do in our schools every day, and ignores the fact that our
students represent the community with distinction in and out of the classroom.

I want to make a few comments on each of the issues. First, as it relates to the football team.

As has been widely communicated, the District has retained the services of an independent
investigator to look further into this matter. Like both of these issues that we are discussing
tonight, it is critically important to get the facts correct. That investigation began last week, and it
is ongoing.

What I do want to be clear about is that the decision to sever ties with Mr. Maimaron as Head
Coach of the football team is final, and will not be revisited. When that decision was made, it
was made with ample information that led me to the conclusion that a change in leadership was
needed for the Duxbury football program.

To address the argument made by some members of our community that the language used
was not anti-Semitic, I defer to the Anti-Defamation League, the Attorney General's Office of
Civil Rights, and most importantly, members of the Jewish community in town, and all
throughout the country, who would disagree with that assessment. We need to move forward
from this conversation.

In addition, I want to talk about members of our community who have really risen to the
occasion in the past two weeks, and that is our student-athletes who are members of the
football team. Since the events of March 12, the football team has shown initiative and has
demonstrated significant growth in their understanding of the impact of words and actions on
and off the field. Last Wednesday, the players attended a presentation by a third-generation
Holocaust survivor whose grandfather and uncles survived Auschwitz as young adults during
World War II. The presentation was powerful and our student-athletes walked away with a
greater understanding of how the Holocaust was not just a historical event but a lived
experience for many in our community. On their own, the football captains and several other
players accepted an invitation by Senator Barry Finegold to meet and learn about the Holocaust
from his perspective as a former football player and member of the Jewish community who was
impacted by the recent events. Additionally, the captains have met with Rabbi Howard Cohen
and are exploring scheduling a meeting between the Rabbi and the entire team. Our players
are demonstrating a genuine understanding of the gravity of what has occurred and are
committed to doing the work they need to as a team.

Senator Finegold, in his presentation to our students on March 27 shared that there is a term in
Judaism known as t’shuvah, which means “return” or “repentance.” As an educational
institution, we feel that we can use this experience for our players to learn and grow, and we
believe that allowing our students to return to the football field is a crucial step in this learning
journey. At this time, the football games against Marshfield for this week remain on the
schedule. I sincerely hope we can move forward, and move forward stronger than before.

In the coming weeks and months, we are going to need to identify who we are and what we
believe in as a school district and community. People and education are at the heart of
everything that we do in public schools. Mistakes will happen, and when possible, we have the
opportunity to turn mistakes into important learning moments. Sometimes situations will arise
that are uncomfortable at first, but eventually, allow us to make important adjustments resulting
in growth as an organization. We recognize that right now, we have the opportunity to make
substantive and long-lasting change around issues of diversity, equity, inclusion, and religious
and racial sensitivity in our schools and community. We welcome the feedback of our parents
and community as we transition through this process.

I now want to comment on the allegations made against Mr. Blake in the recent civil court filing.

First, I hope it goes without saying that we are deeply disturbed by these allegations. The idea
that a member of our staff would have hurt a student is an educator’s worst nightmare. I would
also add that I am a parent too, and I know Parker’s death is heartbreaking for the Foley family.

At the same time, I need to reiterate that the District took all appropriate steps to investigate this
matter and obtain relevant facts and then took proper, legal action in this case. The lawsuit’s
inference that I or my administration had knowledge of the abuse and did not take action is
patently untrue.

But some context is important.

First, you may recall that in our statements last week that we did in fact receive an anonymous
letter and phone call in 2018 which made allegations of abuse against Mr. Blake. That letter also
went to the Duxbury Police Department and the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office.
Other than the gender of the alleged victim, it had no other identifying information. Not an age of
the victim, not a year that it may have occurred, no specific details whatsoever of the alleged
abuse. Despite the fact that it was anonymous, we took it very seriously, and took the unusual,
and aggressive, step of placing Mr. Blake on leave to investigate. I should add here, that in this
case, and anytime we are dealing with sensitive personnel matters, decisions like this are made
in consultation with the District’s legal counsel. Unfortunately, that investigation by the Duxbury
Police Department, and the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office, as well as our own
internal investigation, failed to yield any actionable evidence.

We had two other instances of reported misconduct by Mr. Blake that I think are important to
mention.

First, in 2017 we received a letter about Mr. Blake’s treatment of players as a hockey coach. It
was more of a complaint about his coaching style. We reviewed that matter internally, and found
it not to be a credible complaint.

In 2019 we received a complaint from a student who made the claim that Mr. Blake had made
the student feel “uncomfortable” in gym class, and that he was “creepy”. Again, we took it
extremely seriously as we would anytime a student makes such a complaint, and launched an
internal investigation, as well as reported it to the Duxbury Police Department. The internal
investigation yielded no actionable evidence of misconduct, and the Duxbury Police Department
found no evidence of criminal misconduct. However, since we had received the 2018
anonymous letter, we decided to hire an independent investigator to look further into the claims.
In the end, the independent investigator was not able to substantiate the claim, and we were
unable to take any personnel action.

Last week I made the statement to the media that we have been on “high alert” for a few years,
and I want to provide some context for that comment. Once we received the anonymous letter
and phone call in 2018 we were understandably on high alert based on the seriousness of the
allegations. That being said, we were unable to take legal or personnel action since multiple
investigations conducted by the Duxbury Public Schools, the Duxbury Police Department, and
the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office failed to yield any actionable evidence. The
safety of our students is paramount but one is not able to simply fire someone with statutory and
contractual job protections based on unsubstantiated allegations.

In November 2020, an attorney representing the Foley family contacted the Plymouth County
District Attorney, and alleged that their son, who had recently passed away, had been sexually
abused by Mr. Blake in 2006, when he was in middle school. They also identified themselves as
the anonymous letter writer/caller from 2018.

We immediately placed Mr. Blake on administrative leave, and again, collaborated with all
relevant agencies, including the Duxbury Police Department, the Plymouth County District
Attorney’s Office, the Department of Children and Families, and the Department of Elementary
and Secondary Education. At the conclusion of this most recent investigation, the District
Attorney did not proceed with criminal charges against Mr. Blake. Once we learned of the DA’s
decision, the Duxbury Public Schools chose to hire its own independent investigator. At the end
of an exhaustive independent investigation, our investigator, like the police and DA, was not
able to find direct evidence of sexual abuse, but did conclude that Mr. Blake violated District
policy. With those findings in hand, we immediately began termination proceedings with Mr.
Blake. I can also report that Mr. Blake’s employment with the District terminated on April 1,
2021.

The Duxbury Police Department has received over a dozen anonymous tips in relation to this
case, and has followed up on every one of them. We have been informed that none of the tips
are actionable from a legal standpoint. If there is anyone who believes they have relevant
information to share, we ask that you please contact Detective Mike Bolze directly at 781-934-
5656 x1121.

I have heard from some community members about an anonymous Facebook post alleging that
district staff were under a “gag order”. At best, that is a mischaracterization of the actual
message conveyed to teachers. The building principals encouraged teachers to acknowledge
the very public and painful challenges we are experiencing in our school community when (and
if) it made sense in the classroom. However, teachers were not given permission to engage in a
conversation or conjecture with students about individuals, colleagues, or athletic teams while
there is still an active investigation. Doing so would be a violation of privacy laws.

Finally, any time there are crises like this in communities, there is always a call for “more
information” to be released. I want to be clear about this. The information and statements that
the Duxbury Public Schools has released about both issues, are the information and statements
that we can release. I have a professional and ethical obligation to adhere to laws that protect
the privacy rights of students and staff, and I will do nothing short of that.

Thank you.