MUHS Principal resigns after investigation of allegedly fabricated interviews

Middlebury Union High School principal Justin Campbell announced his resignation in a brief letter to school officials on January 23. “After much consideration, numerous discussions with my family, and deep self-reflection, I have decided to resign,” Campbell’s letter said. “I am very honored to be part of the MUHS community and will cherish the memories we have made.”

Campbell’s resignation came as a shock to many in the high school, but not former coaches Jill and Pat Dunn. Two hours before Campbell’s announcement, Jill Dunn received an email from school district attorney Pietro Lin, according to a Seven Days report. In December 2022, Jill alleged that Campbell had fabricated the interview during an investigation into a post-prom party at the Dunns’ home. Ms. Lin’s emails reported that a district investigation into Ms. Campbell’s conduct substantiated her allegations.

The post-prom party investigation that led to Campbell’s resignation dates back to the summer of 2021. But Jill says the seeds of this conflict were sown years ago when she and her husband first became school district officials. as a high school coach.

As parents to children who attended Addison Central School District, Jill was hired as Women’s National Tennis Coach in 2017 and Pat was recruited as National Basketball Assistant Coach in 2019.

Jill told The Campus that she began clashing with district athletic director Sean Farrell soon after being hired as a coach. In one such incident in the spring of 2019, Jill said the men’s and women’s tennis coach’s salary was comparable to that of a middle school coach, not the standard salary of a high school coach in the district. It was said that he knew that he was being paid.

Jill later filed an application with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) that after she and the men’s tennis coach met with Farrell about the pay gap, Farrell increased the tennis coach’s salary from $2,659 to $4,343. raised to In Jill’s application, the school’s female coaches in other sports, including downhill skiing, volleyball and field hockey, were “fired, neglected, lied to, and abused.” [and] Blackmailed by Farrell.

Over the next year, Jill had more disagreements with Farrell, including disagreements over the benefits of the school’s bake sale and refusing Farrell’s offer to join the school’s athletic coaching group. said. These interactions were also detailed in Jill’s June 2022 EEOC complaint, which alleges she had been subjected to sex and employment discrimination in violation of Title 7 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. accused.

Farrell declined to comment specifically on Jill’s relationship with Pat Dunn, saying the school district’s press release on the matter spoke to his feelings. The district statement did not directly address Jill’s allegations against Farrell. Instead, it deals with the prom party incident that led to the dismissal of Jill and Pat Dunn and the resignation of Principal Campbell.

In late August 2021, Campbell contacted the Dunns to ask about a post-prom party they hosted for their son and his friend in June of the same year. “Several community members have informed us that you hosted an underage party where alcohol was consumed,” Campbell wrote in an email, which Jill shared with The Campus.

The Dunns met with Campbell shortly after exchanging emails and explained to Campbell what their party would be like, including grilling food, playing ping-pong, and using the backyard pool. The couple said they never served alcoholic beverages to partygoers or witnessed them drinking. Jill said neither she nor her husband served alcohol to her children, although it’s possible the children were drinking early on at the party or prom.

After this meeting in early September, Ms. Campbell heard nothing more from Ms. Campbell until November, when she came to talk about another issue: Farrell and her complaint about a group of movement leaders who were denied entry. Said he didn’t. In another email from Campbell, which Jill shared with The Campus, that the two had contacted about meeting times, Campbell wrote: I would like to explain the results of my research. ”

Pat accompanied his wife to a meeting with Campbell in November of this year. Campbell then cited interviews with three students who attended the party, claiming that the Dunns were aware of underage drinking at the event. Both said they were fired from their school coaching positions.

“We left without seeing anything,” Jill told The Campus.

Jill began to suspect other motives for her and her husband’s dismissal when she met with Campbell in November, particularly in connection with past conflicts with Farrell. said. In response to these allegations, she asked for the party to turn over the investigative records of her district and explained her concerns to Superintendent Peter Burroughs.

After receiving no response to her request for more information about the district’s investigation, Jill filed a formal complaint with the EEOC for gender-based employment discrimination and lack of due process when she and her husband were fired. submitted. The EEOC rejected Jill’s application four months later in October 2022, and in her response she wrote: [sic]But you did nothing to stop it. ”

Despite the EEOC closing its investigation, Jill found in the commission’s online portal documents that district attorneys provided summaries of interviews Campbell had with partygoers. Jill then had her son question her interviewees about statements she had given Campbell about drinking at the Dunn party. Jill said all three students told Jill’s son that he had never been interviewed by Campbell about the matter.

Following these findings, Jill hired a private investigator to extract statements from the three students regarding their investigation of the district. Two of the students told private investigators they never met Campbell to discuss the party. According to the private investigator’s report, the third person briefly spoke with Campbell on unrelated topics.

Farrell disputed the private investigator’s claim that no student sat down with him or Campbell to talk about the post-prom party. “[I] Approaching the [the student] When I asked if she would meet with me and Mr. Campbell to talk about her experience at the party, she agreed. Campbell was in my office during the entire interview process,” Farrell wrote to The Campus.