The attorney for the Arlington School Committee is investigating “potential inappropriate conduct” by a teacher and principal following the disclosure of a series of e-mails written on the schools’ computer system. The e-mails, exchanged over several months, are between Chuck Coughlin, a tech-ed teacher at the Ottoson Middle School, and the school’s principal, Stavroula Bouris.

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According to the attorney, Alan S. Miller, the e-mails “strongly suggest a romantic and/or sexual relationship” between the two.

 

The information was provided in a July 9 letter from Miller obtained by YourArlington.com.

 

In June, a package of e-mails was given to school Superintendent Nate Levenson by an unnamed teacher and a second set of e-mails was left anonymously in an envelope in his office.

 

The e-mails not only outline the relationship that may have resulted in a conflict of interest between a teacher and his supervisor, but raise questions about Coughlin's support of Bouris during a recent controversy concerning her tenure as principal.

In a July 13 memo to the School Committee, Levinson wrote: “... at no time did I solicit or encourage the collection of these emails. At no time have I ever reviewed or asked to have reviewed emails of school employees.” [Full text of memo, posted on on Advocate's blog July 17 (.pdf file)]

 

Levinson, who was involved in a dispute with Bouris during the school year, wrote, “Upon receiving the emails I was concerned both over the content and how they may have been obtained.” He said he contacted Miller, asking if he had to act on the information provided to him and was told that failure to act could constitute gross negligence.

Miller told Levinson an investigation was needed, and the superintendent wrote that, “given recent conflicts with the parties involved, I felt that an independent investigation was warranted and I recused myself from any further involvement to the extent allowed by law.”

While Miller has completed his investigation of Coughlin, he has not yet finished his inquiry regarding Bouris, because she has not had an opportunity to review the e-mails.

 

Efforts to reach Coughlin and Bouris, beginning June 25, have been unsuccessful. An e-mail sent to Bouris's school address July 15 yielded an autoreply saying she is out of the office until Aug. 9.

 

Miller says attorney Frank Mondano is representing both.

The revelation of the e-mails adds another chapter to what was a tumultuous school year involving personnel at the middle school. In March, Levenson said he would not renew Bouris's contract, which was to end in August, without specifying the reasons.