Tong Concludes Investigation Of Ex-Greenwich Assistant Principal

GREENWICH, CT — Connecticut Attorney General William Tong on Friday announced that his office has concluded its investigation into the possibility of discriminatory employment practices by former Greenwich Public Schools (GPS) educator Jeremy Boland.

Similar to the results of investigations conducted by GPS and the town of Greenwich, Tong's inquiry found no evidence that Boland engaged in a pattern or practice of illegal employment discrimination. The investigation is now closed.

Several investigations were launched into Boland and the school district after a surreptitiously recorded video was released by the conservative organization Project Veritas on Aug. 30, 2022, that depicted then-Cos Cob School Assistant Principal Boland making remarks about his own personal hiring practices and his preference for younger, more progressive teachers who aren't Catholic.

The Boland video was the first in a series Project Veritas called "The Secret Curriculum," which aimed to highlight "the secret curriculum that is indoctrinating your children," Project Veritas said on its YouTube page.

Project Veritas is known for conducting undercover video stings and publicizing private conversations. The organization has been facing legal issues in recent years.

Boland was placed on administrative leave after the video was released last August and ultimately resigned in March 2023. A new assistant principal was appointed in May.

Boland began working for GPS as a physical education teacher in 2006, and became the district's physical education health and family program coordinator in 2018. He was promoted to assistant principal at Cos Cob School in 2020.

The Office of the Attorney General reviewed 61,105 pages of documents produced by the GPS including documents from Boland’s email accounts and electronic devices, according to a news release from Tong.

Investigators interviewed Boland, as well as 32 witnesses, including current and retired GPS administrators and teachers, unsuccessful applicants for positions, as well as witnesses who proactively contacted the Office of the Attorney General to volunteer information.

Investigators reviewed all publicly available videos posted by Project Veritas.

Tong noted in his news release that Project Veritas "declined to produce additional non-public video or contact information for the anonymous individual featured in their video."

On Friday, Tong sent a letter to GPS Superintendent Dr. Toni Jones summarizing the investigation and its findings.

"We do not minimize Mr. Boland's reported comments, which were wrong and offensive. Neither does Mr. Boland himself. He admits that the Project Veritas recordings accurately represent his words," Tong said in his letter. "He maintains that he made the comments to curry favor with a woman whom he met on a dating app and whom he believed to be a possible romantic connection. But he denies that he illegally or inappropriately discriminated against any applicant or worker. We found no evidence to the contrary."

It was determined that Boland was never in a position to make hiring or other employment decisions independently, and he was never the only administrator who screened applicants for any position, Tong said.

Additionally, through multiple, consistent accounts from Boland's former colleagues, according to Tong, Boland "never asked inappropriate questions during interviews; never exhibited biased attitudes in hiring or otherwise; and never tried to influence others to make employment decisions on any inappropriate or illegal basis."

Tong noted that GPS's hiring structures and practices "significantly mitigate the risk of illegal employment discrimination."

The hiring process draws input from "a range of stakeholders and limits the ability of any individual staffer or administrator to illegally discriminate."

"The Office of the Attorney General stands ready to protect the civil rights of Connecticut residents. We will respond to patterns and practices of civil rights violations with investigations and litigation wherever warranted. We find no evidence of actionable violations here," Tong concluded in his letter.

In response to Tong's letter, Jones contacted Deputy Associate Attorney General Gregory O'Connell, according to district spokesperson Jonathan Supranowitz.

"We are grateful for the professionalism of your office and the way in which the investigation was conducted last school year without impacting our daily instruction or school operations," Jones said in her response.

Investigations were also launched by the Connecticut Department of Education and the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities (CT-CHRO).

The status of those investigations was not immediately known Friday afternoon.