Stamford High Administrators Receive Probation

A state Superior Court Judge has approved the request for accelerated rehabilitation to the Stamford High School administrators accused of failing to report a sexual relationship between a teacher and a student.

According to Hearst Connecticut Media Group, Judge Richard Comerford issued his decision on the applications of Stamford High School Principal Donna Valentine and Assistant Principal Roth Nordin on Wednesday morning in state Superior Court in Stamford.

If the administrators, who have been on administrative leave since their arrests, fulfill the terms of their two-year probationary period, the charge will be erased from their records.

Valentine and Nordin applied for the special form of probation for first-time offenders Oct. 22. They were arrested Oct. 2, accused of failing to report to authorities, including Stamford Police, information that English teacher Danielle Watkins was having with a then 17-year-old student.

The student reported the relationship that began in September 2013 at the end of the school year in June 2014. The student told authorities that Watkins threatened to fail him, thus preventing his graduation if he severed the relationship that included numerous off-campus sexual trysts and the smoking of marijuana.

The case against Watkins which includes a charge of sexual assault is pending and she’s scheduled to return to court Nov. 21.

Related stories:

• Stamford HS Administrators Seek Special Probation Program
• Stamford HS Administrators Plead Not Guilty
• Stamford Teacher Is Accused of Sexual Assault of Student
• Prosecutors May Seek Plea Deal in Stamford HS Teacher Sex Assault Case

Patch file photo. Donna Valentine, left, Roth Nordin.

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