Manchester Superintendent: We're Reinforcing Policies To Make Sure Sayreville Incidents Don't Happen Here

Could an incident like the assaults on the Sayreville football team happen in Manchester?

Manchester Schools Superintendent David Trethaway said the district is taking steps to ensure the answer to that remains no.
At Wednesday night’s Board of Education meeting at Ridgeway Elementary School, board member James Pate asked Trethaway about the potential for a Sayreville incident, as Trethaway was wrapping up his report on the district’s Harassment, Intimidation and Bullying numbers for the 2013-2014 school year.

Trethaway said one of his first phone calls was to Keith Lister, head coach of the Hawks’ football team, to make sure there were no issues brewing locally.

At Sayreville High School, seven football players have been charged with sexual assault and the the superintendent of schools has canceled the remainder of the team’s season this year. Those actions came in the wake of accusations first reported as the hazing of freshmen by seniors on the team, with details emerging later of assaults occurring in the locker room, where the players were not being supervised after practice.

“Would we be prepared? Can we make sure that never happens here? Those are the questions you naturally ask yourself in the wake of something like this,” Trethaway said.

Trethaway said it has been stressed to Lister and to the coaches of all of the district’s teams that there must be supervision of the players at all times to prevent anything of that nature. In addition, the coaches talked to their teams about the situation, emphasizing the need for players to speak up if there is a problem.

Threthaway said there are some things that need to be addressed, such as ensuring proper supervision of girls teams where the head coach is male and cannot be in the locker room while they are dressing.

“We are working on that, particularly for the winter season,” he said.

Linda Saraceno, the district’s affirmative action officer, told the board that part of the in-service training at the beginning of the year includes going over the district’s hazing policy to remind teachers what to look for and how to address issues of hazing.

The bottom line, Trethaway said, has been reinforcing to supervisors and to all the staff the importance of following policies and procedures in these cases, which is where the breakdown frequently is when a situation goes so badly awry.