Ottoson Middle School teacher Chuck Coughlin has been terminated from his position, effective Aug. 9, after an investigation by the School Committee attorney said he had used a school computer both to forge e-mails and carry out "an inappropriately intimate relationship" on the schools’ e-mail system.

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In an undated open letter to staff, community members and the media released Aug. 10, Superintendent Nate Levinson wrote, "The decision to terminate any employee is never easy, and a great deal of research, deliberation and consultation went into this decision."

 

Levenson said the termination followed a "thorough" investigation of Coughlin’s actions, including retrieving e-mails from the district’s backup system and from the hard drive of school computers. The investigation included personal interviews with Coughlin.

 

Levenson said that the investigation, conducted by Miller, concluded that Coughlin:

• "Forged an e-mail to make it appear I was the author;
• "created the impression, via forged e-mails and an 'electronic paper trail,' that I had denied a request for an extended vacation by Principal Bouris when in fact I had approved the request;
• "sent a number of e-mails on a school computer, via the district’s e-mail system, during the school day to Principal Bouris, which portrayed an inappropriately intimate relationship at times making reference to matters of a sexual nature."

E-mails between Coughlin and Bouris, first reported by YourArlington on July 15, were contained in the report of an investigation Miller had been conducting since June. The e-mail exchanges include an apparent, ongoing intimate relationship between the two. Miller’s earlier report, dated July 9, refers to the alleged forgery. A "statement of charges" included in information released Aug. 10 provides much more detail. See full text below.

 

In essence, Coughlin lost his job after e-mails in May allegedly were altered “that make it appear Ms. Bouris asked me for and I denied her vacation time to go to Greece” this summer, Levenson wrote in a separate document, outlining charges against Coughlin. "Apparently, the purpose of fabricating the e-mails was to enable Ms. Bouris to prove to her husband that she had tried and failed” to get the vacation time.

 

“Your forgery and email impersonation of me in a self-serving attempt to deceive Ms. Bouris’ husband demonstrate a level of dishonesty and deceit that is totally unacceptable to a teacher in the Arlington Public Schools,” he wrote.

In the Aug. 9 termination letter sent to Coughlin, Levenson referred to a meeting with Coughlin and the teacher’s attorney, Frank Mondano, in which Coughlin was given an opportunity to respond to the charges and say why he should not be terminated. Neither Coughlin nor his attorney provided Levenson with any additional information, the superintendent wrote. Efforts by YourArlington to reach Coughlin, an Ottoson technology-education teacher since 1999, and his attorney have been unsuccessful.

According to Levenson, Coughlin has acknowledged sending the e-mails and maintained that he was just “joking around.” Levenson wrote the decision to terminate Coughlin had nothing to do with whether a sexual relationship existed but on the three findings “that were proved conclusively. These are actions that cannot be tolerated or overlooked.”

Levenson also wrote that “since I have had difficult dealings with Mr. Coughlin this year, I wanted to be certain that my judgment was reasonable and fair. The staff and the people of Arlington deserve nothing less. Prior to making my decision I set out to independently gauge the seriousness of these actions while respecting the privacy of the individuals and recognizing that the final decision, by law, is mine.”

The superintendent consulted with three people whom he described as having “much experience and expertise in these matters.” The first was Tom Scott, executive director of the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents, who served as a superintendent for 11 years and whose current role includes providing advice to superintendents.

Levenson wrote that he also spoke with Long, the general counsel and adviser for the same organization, and Irwin Blumer, who is the chairman of educational administration and higher education at Boston College’s Lynch School of Education and whose job is to train future superintendents. Blumer also was a superintendent for more than 15 years and helped shape a recent compromise two-year contract extension for Bouris.

“I spoke with each person individually and shared the investigation reports with the names blacked out,” Levenson wrote. “The two former superintendents stated unequivocally that if a similar situation occurred when they were superintendents, they would terminate the employee. All three indicated they believed most superintendents statewide would terminate an employee, given the facts as we know them.”

Levenson wrote that he takes “full responsibility for the decision but I take comfort in knowing that this decision is proportionate and reasonable in the eyes of three very experienced, impartial education professionals.”