The Greenwich School District has launched an investigation after a video was posted online Tuesday of a school administrator apparently making comments about his hiring practices.
The highly-edited hidden camera video was posted by the group, Project Veritas. According to its website, the organization says it “..investigates and exposes corruption, dishonesty, self-dealing, waste, fraud, and other misconduct in both public and private institutions to achieve a more ethical and transparent society.”
According to Project Veritas, the video shows the Cos Cob School administrator talking to a woman at a series of restaurants in July. It is not clear where the restaurants are or when the videos were recorded, though Project Veritas does include a time stamp with different dates in July.
It is also unclear who the woman speaking in the hidden video is. A narrator on the video says she is one of the organization’s undercover journalists.
NBC Connecticut has not independently verified the accuracy of the video.
At several points in the video, the administrator is asked about his hiring practices. He appears to say he doesn’t hire conservatives.
He also appears to label Catholics conservative, and when asked what he does if he finds out a job applicant is Catholic, he responded “You don’t hire them.”
“Discrimination of any kind has no place in Connecticut, especially in our public schools. This is not aligned with our Connecticut values,” Gov. Ned Lamont said in a statement.
Greenwich First Selectman Fred Camillo posted a call for an investigation on Facebook after seeing the video.
“The Veritas video just released, and I see no reason to suspect it is not accurate, is shameful and needs a full investigation into not only this administrator, but the damage caused to applicants, past and present,” Camillo said in the post. “To think that Roman Catholic applicants may have applied for teaching positions and not received proper consideration due to their religion seems like something from a bygone era, not 2022.”
Greenwich school superintendent Dr. Toni Jones sent an email to the families of students and school staff Wednesday morning that said she was made aware of the video Tuesday night and while she will not make any public statements at this time, the district intends to do a full investigation.
“We do not, however, support any opinions that promote discriminatory hiring practices based on race, religion, gender, or age in any way, and we want to remind our entire community that our curriculum policies and procedures are strictly enforced by our Board,” Jones’ email read.
Wednesday afternoon, Jones said the administrator had been placed on administrative leave.
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