The report by attorney Matthew Oliverio says former Superintendent Phil Auger “turned a blind eye” and suggests he was “neglect of duty” in failing to monitor and oversee Aaron Thomas after he found out the former coach was fat testing students.
Auger resigned last week, acknowledging the importance of having new leadership at this time but defending his response to the case as appropriate given the information he had at the time.
The newly-released report also looks critically at the response by the high school’s former principal Denise Mancieri and former athletic director Howie Hague, saying they could have confronted Thomas and looked into the situation further after Hague saw the former coach fat-testing a partially clothed student alone in his office five years ago. Mancieri is the town’s current assistant superintendent.
The report does not give recommendations on potential actions the school committee should take against administrators but says the district should continue its progress on training faculty, staff and students about reporting inappropriate behavior.
Aaron Thomas is accused of inappropriately examining his players’ naked bodies for years under the guise of fat tests. The state’s Attorney General’s Office and the Rhode Island U.S. Attorney’s Office have launched respective criminal and civil investigations into the case.
Alex Nunes can be reached at anunes@thepublicsradio.org
