East Haven Band Director Reinstated After Placed on Leave Over Parent Complaint: Report

EAST HAVEN, CT — On Monday, East Haven band director and music teacher Matt Laundano was placed on paid administrative leave and accused of being verbally abusive to students. After extensive investigation, Laundano will be reinstated to his teaching position at East Haven High School, Superintendent of School Portia Bonner said in a statement released Wednesday, according to Fox61.

When Laundano was placed on leave, many students stood up for him. This led to the school conducting over 25 hours of interviews, previews of parent and alumni statements, reviews of student statements and personal conversations with numerous individuals, Bonner said via Fox 61.

A student's mom went directly to East Haven Police to report the alleged incident. After officers reviewed the situation, they determined the issues didn't meet the criteria for an arrest and referred her back to the school to handle it with school officials.

A source told Fox61 that some male band members got angry with female band members for missing notes at a Saturday night competition. This upset the girls, who told Laundano that the boys said they were the reason they lost the competition.

Apparently Laundano held a meeting with the students and yelled at the boys who made the girls cry. The parents of these boys said the boys came out of the meeting crying, and the parents went directly to the police, Fox 61 reports.

Read the full Fox 61 story here.