Judge orders release of Ragosta report

By John Howell
Posted 11/17/15

Although the so-called Ragosta report has yet to be released, a Superior Court judge’s ruling that it be made public has, in the opinion of some, started to lift dark clouds over the School …

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Judge orders release of Ragosta report

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Although the so-called Ragosta report has yet to be released, a Superior Court judge’s ruling that it be made public has, in the opinion of some, started to lift dark clouds over the School Department.

“This has been so toxic,” said School Committee member Karen Bachus, “it has put a cloud over the city.”

Bachus pressed for an investigation after it came to light this spring that Gorton science teacher Mario Atoyan had allegedly drawn penises on the arms of two female students and yet was permitted to continue teaching. He was suspended without pay in March after a grand jury handed down an indictment concerning the alleged first- and second-degree sexual assault of a 15-year-old North Kingstown girl in an unrelated incident.

The School Committee retained attorney Vincent Ragosta to investigate how the school administration handled the Atoyan incident at Gorton. Ragosta gave his report orally on two separate executive sessions to the committee in May. Transcripts of his report were made but not released.

The lack of transparency and concerns over student safety prompted City Councilwomen Donna Travis, Camille Vella-Wilkinson and Kathleen Ursler to spearhead a vote of no confidence in three members of the school administration, which gained council approval. When demands to release the report still went unheeded, Ward 5 Councilman Ed Ladouceur called for a subpoena requiring the committee to release findings.

On Thursday, Superior Court Associate Justice Bennett Gallo largely dismissed the committee’s argument that the report came under attorney-client privilege, or that the work product doctrine applied and thus the document could be kept confidential. In a bench ruling, Gallo said he reviewed the transcripts, and while he found some legal advice came under attorney-client privilege, the bulk of the report relates to how the Atoyan matter was handled. Further, he pointed out Ragosta had been retained to perform a general investigation.

“I can’t conclude that was all legal advice,” he said of the report. He added that the entire report doesn’t apply for protection. As for the work product doctrine, Gallo said there is no indication that Ragosta was retained in anticipation of litigation from the city.

Gallo provided school committee counsel Andrew Henneous and Peter Ruggiero, city solicitor, with sections of the report where attorney-client privilege applied and recommended that the names of students and parents be redacted from the transcripts before release. Henneous thought that process could be completed by the end of this week and the report would be released.

Reportedly, as of yesterday, the committee is seeking “additional clarifications” on what is to be released, but that couldn’t be confirmed.

In an email Monday, school committee chair Jennifer Ahearn said the committee would “respect the decision.”

“From the beginning of this incident, the school committee has had two overriding goals. First and foremost, to protect and assist the affected students in the district, and their families, who have alleged highly disturbing wrongdoing by a Warwick teacher. The confidentiality, safety and welfare of our students is of paramount importance and the school committee sought, and continues to seek, to protect and ensure that students’ participation in reporting incidents and subsequent investigations is encouraged and will be protected,” Ahearn writes.

She goes on to say the committee has sought to “handle the investigation process as fairly and effectively as possible, while taking into account federal and state confidentiality statutes and regulations, protecting key attorney-client confidentiality and keeping information private in order not to negatively impact ongoing probes.”

Ahearn did not specify what “ongoing probes” the committee is making.

Nonetheless, as far as the Ragosta report is concerned, there was a sense that one chapter of this investigation is nearing closure.

“This is a big win for the city council,” Ladouceur said. “It is important. People have a right to know.”

“I’m very happy with the decision. It should have come out a long time ago,” Bachus said.

Bachus was present when Ragosta gave the report and knows what it says. She believes some people will be “embarrassed” by the findings, and she feels that the matter was not properly handled in the wake of Ragosta’s findings. She said the school committee should have treated administrators the “same way” as it would have treated teachers and suspended them with pay and given them hearings. She also thinks a forensic investigation of administrative computers would have been appropriate to understand what was known and when.

“Ragosta could have done more. I don’t know why we’re treating the administration differently,” she said.

What happens from here is unclear. Two of the tree administrators named in the no-confidence vote have retired, and the third has had her responsibilities reduced.

“We’re going to finally get to know what happened, who was involved and how it got to where it did,” Ladouceur said. He sees the release of the report as clearing the air and serving as a lesson to the school committee “that it should have been more forthright from the beginning.”

In an email, Mayor Scott Avedisian said: “I know that release of the Ragosta report to the City Council will be seen as a good step to rebuilding faith and confidence between the Council and the School Committee. I remain very upbeat about creating a good working partnership with Superintendent Thornton and have spent much time with him at events and meeting with him.”

Council President Donna Travis hailed Gallo’s decision, saying the actions of the school administration in this incident won’t be hidden and people will get answers as to what happened. She is also hopeful schools will put measures in place “so that it doesn’t happen again.”

Travis feels the committee’s efforts to keep the report secret have shifted the spotlight from the good things taking place in the schools. She is hopeful of a more positive relationship between the committee and the council.

“We want to go in a positive direction and bring Warwick to a better place,” she said.

Not all members of the council are as enthusiastic over release of the report. Joseph Gallucci, Ward 8, said he has mixed emotions. He noted he never received a single constituent call about the Ragosta report or how school administrators had handled complaints about Atoyan.

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