Residents raise concerns about inappropriate conduct between students and staff at Warwick Valley BOE meeting

APRIL 21, 2026 – Multiple residents voiced their concerns about inappropriate conduct between students and staff during public comment at the Warwick Valley Central School District Board of Education meeting on Tuesday, April 21. These concerns come in the wake of a widely circulating allegation of inappropriate communications between a Warwick coach and a student.

Nicole McCormick, an admin of the Warwick, NY Parents Group on Facebook, conducted a survey on multiple families’ experiences within the district.

“What emerged was not a series of isolated concerns, but consistent patterns across multiple schools and grade levels, patterns that point to systematic issues of student support, safety and accountability,” said McCormick.

McCormick highlighted that the main areas of concern from families are support for students with disabilities, student safety and threats, and accountability and trust. Staff professionality and boundary concerns were also discussed, and she shared anonymous stories from parents about staff from the schools conducting inappropriate behavior with students in the district.

Warwick resident Stephanie Kowalsky stated that issues of allegations and incidents have been ongoing since she was a student in the district.

“This current generation of children are being raised by parents who went through the same scenarios with different teachers and were not supported or protected,” said Kowalsky. “To this day, when you mention some teacher’s names, you’re going to hear all sorts of stories that you would not believe to be true, and this is becoming more prevalent since the statute of limitations changed.”

Board explains district investigation policy

After the public comment concluded, the board gave responses to the comments made. Beth Harris, the legal counsel for the Board of Education, explained how the process of investigating child abuse in an educational setting works.

“Under article 23-B of the Education Law, the school district itself, the building principal of the school where a child attends, as well as the superintendent’s schools are charged with doing the investigation. It is a mandated by law confidential process, there is not the permissibility of reporting to the police and divesting yourselves as an educational institution other than that investigation,” Harris stated.

Harris explained that the school district is not permitted to contact the police unless a reasonable suspicion finding is discovered by the school’s internal investigation. She also explained that due to the specificity of the definition of child abuse in an educational setting, some allegations do not get classified in that category.

“What may seem to be an obvious allegation of child abuse to concerned citizens is going to have to be measured against the statutory definition of what constitutes child abuse in an educational setting, which is a very specific definition,” Harris said. “However, even if it does not meet the definition of child abuse in an educational setting, oftentimes allegations which have reasonable suspicion for being misconduct in nature, or conduct unbecoming of a teacher or an administrator or any other type of employee, will in fact result in professional discipline against those individuals.”

Harris also addressed the district’s decision to hire a retired police detective to aid them in their internal investigation. According to Harris, having the detective as counsel will aid in future investigations if reasonable suspicion is found against the accused individual.

“The reason we’re bringing in law enforcement to be a consultant to that investigation is to ensure that if there was a finding, that if there was some criminal misconduct in nature that had to be reported to law enforcement, that there would not be problems with the evidence collected or the criminal investigation undermined in the course of local school district investigation, which once again, is required to be done here locally by law,” Harris said.

Harris also corrected the claim that the accused staff member was suspended, and stated that legally, they cannot suspend a tenured individual without charges or before the reasonable suspicion finding. The individual in question is on administrative leave and will not return until an internal investigation is concluded.

Following Harris’ comments, Superintendent Dr. David Leach stated that the district is acting within the purview of the law and is following legal counsel to the best of their ability.

“I would much rather pick up the phone and call the police and say, ‘Hey, deal with this.’ I would much rather that...It’s very hard to sit up here and to not be able to articulate all the matters that are involved in the case. Unfortunately, we can’t. But there’s good reason for that,” stated Superintendent Leach.

Concerns about social media discussions

Superintendent Leach continued, stating that social media discussions of the investigation can potentially harm victims that are involved, but understands the community’s fears and concerns.

“Litigating this on social media is problematic for alleged victims and for the investigation of itself. With that said; I’m a parent, I’m a father, I understand it, I get it. Everyone up here and all the administrators are doing their very best, and will continue to do so,” Superintendent Leach said.

Board member William Fanos also discussed the impact social media could have on this case, stating, “It would bother me to no end if my child was on the receiving end of this, and if their potential identity, their future was disparaged on social media, that would bother me to no end.”

“Most of us have children in the district, and I think that it’s safe to say that if we had an idea or understanding that the administration, specifically the superintendent, was not taking these allegations or not doing diligence, we as a board would take action,” Fanos said.

Board member Mandy Blanton also expressed her opinion on the matter, stating, “I’m a mom of four girls, and I take this very seriously myself. I have to sleep at night too, I have no skin in the game, I don’t work for the district, I work for free here...we’re doing what is right. We’re not going to let something be hidden under the rug. I know it’s frustrating, because a lot of time our hands are tied...it is frustrating as a parent.”