School Committee Addresses DCF Investigation Into Boys Hockey Coaches

ANDOVER — February 1, 2018 — Andover School Committee opens meeting with formal statement on suspended hockey coaches. Three Andover High School boys hockey coaches have been placed on paid administrative leave after the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families notified Principal Conrad of an active investigation into possible neglect, the School Committee chair announced at the February 1 meeting. The committee noted it is legally barred from conducting its own investigation until DCF completes its inquiry, calling the leave "a standard step that must be taken any time serious allegations are made." The chair also declined to allow public comment on the matter — or on separately circulating reports about a letter Superintendent Berman wrote to school administrators in his personal capacity regarding his son's time in the hockey program — directing residents with concerns about the superintendent to submit them in writing to the committee.