CT Attorney General Launches Investigation Into Greenwich School Video

GREENWICH, CT — Connecticut State Attorney General William Tong has launched an investigation into hiring practices and potential illegal discrimination and misconduct related to the viral video of a Cos Cob School administrator that was released this week, according to an announcement from his office on Thursday.

"Yesterday, most of us saw for the first time a video that appears to contain troubling, discriminatory statements that appear to have been made by a Greenwich public school official," Tong said in the announcement. "Today, I am invoking my civil rights enforcement authority to investigate any potentially illegal discrimination or other actionable misconduct related to that video."

Tong said discrimination, hate, bigotry against any person, and against any religion or on the basis of age, is reprehensible, and that he will take action. He promised to conduct the investigation "by the book."

"I am not going to do anything different just because it is a political season and people want to see me reach one conclusion or another. We will conduct a thorough investigation, and review and analyze all the evidence," he said. "This will not happen overnight. We will get to the bottom of this and hold accountable anyone engaged in actionable misconduct."

The Greenwich community is still absorbing the viral video that was posted online this week by Project Veritas that depicts Jeremy Boland, a Cos Cob School assistant principal, making what appears to be disparaging remarks about Catholics and his own personal hiring practices in the workplace.

Reaction to the video has spread far and wide.

The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights President Bill Donahue said in a statement that the outpouring of support from so many elected officials has been "heartening."

Donohue called for a full-scale investigation.

"We need to know how many Catholics have been turned away from employment in Greenwich public schools, and not simply at Cos Cob. We also need to know if religious profiling is systemic in the schools, and if those who hold to traditional moral values have been excluded from consideration by school administrators," Donahue said in a statement.

"To this end, we are contacting officials at the State Department of Education and the Greenwich Public Schools, asking for such a probe."

The Greenwich Board of Education announced on Wednesday that Boland was placed on administrative leave pending an investigation into his comments, which were surreptitiously recorded in a 12-minute video that was posted late Tuesday night.

According to the Greenwich Public Schools District, an elementary school assistant principal with Boland's experience would make $156,806 for 2022-2023.

In the video, Boland is seen speaking with an undercover Project Veritas journalist, who remained off-camera and chatted with Boland on several occasions at what appeared to be different restaurants in July.

Boland can be heard in the video discussing his preference for younger, more-progressive teachers who aren't Catholic.

"Believe it or not, the open-minded, more progressive teachers are actually more savvy about delivering a Democratic message," Boland said in one of the clips.

Capt. Mark Zuccerella of the Greenwich Police Department said Thursday that the department is aware of the situation, and that, "It does not appear to be a violation of a criminal statute. However, if information is brought to us that would indicate that, we would investigate."

On Wednesday on the eve of the first day of school in Greenwich, a rally was held at Cos Cob School by Leora Levy, a Greenwich resident and Republican who is running against incumbent U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal this fall. A crowd was gathered with signs that read "We Stand With Parents," and, "Educate, Don't Indoctrinate."

Joining Levy were a number of Republican elected officials and candidates for office, as well as Project Veritas founder James O'Keefe.

Officials called for a deeper investigation into school curriculum and into hiring practices in Greenwich and beyond.

O'Keefe spoke briefly, and defended Project Veritas' work. The video of Boland is the first in a series Project Veritas is calling "The Secret Curriculum," which aims to highlight "the secret curriculum that is indoctrinating your children," Project Veritas says on its YouTube page.

"He (Boland) was in a public place, sharing thoughts with one of our journalists," O'Keefe said to a reporter when asked what the circumstances were surrounding the video. "You can see his lips moving here, you can see his face, you can hear his intonation. Our standard of journalism rises to a standard for above and beyond the standard of any journalism that you do. We stand by it. You can see it."

Greenwich First Selectman Fred Camillo said Wednesday that he has directed the town attorney to proceed with an independent investigation into Boland's comments.

"The Board of Education represents the largest cost center in our town’s operating budget and the taxpayers of Greenwich expect that those that work on behalf of the town of Greenwich and the Greenwich Board of Education do so with the highest standards of ethics, transparency and integrity," Camillo said.

The Connecticut State Department of Education noted it "condemns all actions that are discriminatory and contravene Connecticut laws and regulations."

A CSDE spokesperson told Patch that as with all cases related to professional conduct, the department's bureau of investigations and professional practices will open an investigation to further look into any allegations regarding conduct that is not in alignment with Connecticut laws and regulations.

"In accordance with Connecticut Statutory Authority, the CSDE can take certification action if sufficient evidence exists that demonstrates violations of professional standards and/or laws," the CSDE said.

Locally, Greenwich Board of Education Chair Kathleen Stowe said the comments in the video were "clearly disturbing."

"The staff member involved has been placed on administrative leave and the incident is being investigated," Stowe said in a statement. "To be clear, the board and our policies do not support any discriminatory hiring practices based on race, religion, gender, or age."

Local political parties in Greenwich have also reacted to the video.

On Wednesday, Joe Angland, chair of the Greenwich Democratic Town Committee, issued a statement, calling the viral video "extremely troubling."

"Discrimination of the sort suggested by the video would be a disservice to our students by excluding some highly qualified applicants for teaching positions," Angland said. "The Democratic Party celebrates diversity and openness, and it would run contrary to its core principles to discriminate on the basis of political ideology, religion, or age."

Angland went on to say that there shouldn't be a rush to judgement, citing the source of the video.

"Project Veritas’s questionable record, however, does not mean that this particular video is misleading. Should it turn out to be substantially accurate, the practices described by the assistant principal are reprehensible – and ironically, anti-Democratic," Angland said.

Beth MacGillivray, chair of the Greenwich Republican Town Committee, also weighed-in with a statement to Patch.

"This is terrible for our community but equally disturbing is the intent to groom our children and shape them to be members of the Democratic party by hiring teachers that will foster their biases," she said. "The Republican party and candidates agree that politics does not belong in the classroom and it's time to employ trusted educators focused on the core academic teachings of reading, writing and arithmetic, instead of indoctrinating our children and devaluing our parental rights."

MacGillivray concluded by referring to Greenwich Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Toni Jones.

"Presently, our well-known left leaning superintendent is hiding behind a professional communication and legal team," she said. "Accordingly, we demand a leave of absence."

A request for comment from the school district was not immediately returned Thursday afternoon.

If anyone believes they have been the victim of discrimination—at Cos Cob School or elsewhere —you can report to Attorney General William Tong via the AG's website or by calling 860-808-5410.

Jeremy Boland could not be reached for comment.