Wilmington Public Schools Issues Statement on Teacher Returning from Paid Leave

WILMINGTON, MA — The decision by the Wilmington Public Schools to allow a teacher accused of a domestic assault to return to his position as a physical education teacher at Wilmington High School has been met by strong reactions from the public at large.

In an e-mail to the Wilmington High School community Sunday, Superintendent Mary DeLai indicated that physical education teacher Anthony Altieri, 39, would be returning to his position after being placed on paid administrative leave Wednesday. The district issued a statement Monday acknowledging the public's concerns.

Wilmington Public Schools is aware of the concerns of some individuals surrounding its decision to allow Mr. Altieri to return to his position as a physical education teacher at Wilmington High School following recent allegations of domestic assault. The school district wants the public to know that before making the decision to return Mr. Altieri to his position, it thoroughly considered all aspects of this matter before concluding that he should be returned to work.

Last week, Mr. Altieri was placed on paid administrative leave for several days in order to allow the school district to gather more information about the incident, to allow it to assess whether or not Mr. Altieri’s return to his teaching position would pose a threat to the safety of students or staff, and to allow the school district the opportunity to consult with legal counsel. Based on the information gathered, the school district made the decision that Mr. Altieri’s return did not pose a threat to the safety of students or staff and it returned him to his teaching position at the start of this week. The school district has looked at this issue from multiple perspectives, including reviewing Mr. Altieri’s record as an educator in Wilmington for the past thirteen years. Our first concern is the safety and well-being of our students, staff and families and we would not have returned Mr. Altieri to his position if we did not believe that he did not pose a threat. At this point we will defer to the legal process and will continue to monitor this matter moving forward.

Altieri was arrested on Sept. 11 on charges surrounding the alleged assault. A report from the Gloucester Times citing police states that Altieri admitted to striking the alleged victim, but said he only did so after she slapped him first.

The Lowell Sun reports that Altieri is scheduled to appear in Gloucester District Court for a pretrial conference on Oct. 18.

How do you feel about the school district's decision? Let us know in the comments section, or e-mail joe.lipovich@patch.com.