The Newport School Committee voted Wednesday to hire an independent, third-party investigator to conduct a full review of several recent incidents at Rogers High School, including the widely publicized assault of a student with special needs. Leading the investigation will be former Rhode Island State Police Colonel Steven G. O’Donnell.
School Committee Chair James Dring said the move is meant to restore trust and ensure student safety across the district.
“As a father of three daughters, I ran for School Committee to help make our schools places where students can thrive in a safe and welcoming environment,” Dring said. “I am outraged at what I saw in those videos. The disturbing behavior depicted is wrong at any time, in any place — and especially in our schools.”
While the Newport Police Department continues a criminal investigation, the Committee’s independent review will examine how the school district responded to the incidents. The inquiry will focus on whether procedures were followed, where communication or oversight may have failed, what systemic issues contributed, and what corrective actions are needed.
“Since being notified of the videos on Friday, we have acted as swiftly as possible to support the Newport Police Department with their investigation and to plan our next steps as a School Committee,” Dring said.
The investigator will work on behalf of the Committee to gather facts and provide answers to the community.
“Between the Police Department’s criminal investigation and our independent review, I am confident that we will be able to provide a full accounting to our community by the end of next month,” Dring said. “And I will say again: We will make sure no incident like this ever happens again.”
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