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Claremont School District urges court to dismiss charges in Caccavaro suit

By Patrick Adrian
[email protected]
CONCORD — The Claremont School District is challenging a lawsuit filed by the family of a former student and claims the district acted in legal accordance in its handling of issues involving former paraeducator George Caccavaro, a new court filing shows.

Legal counsel for the Claremont School District is demanding the charges in a civil suit against the school district be dismissed, citing a lack of sufficient evidence to show any wrongdoing or liability, according to a response filed on Sunday in United States District Court.

“[The Claremont School District and SAU #6] did not violate any federal, state, statutory or common law rights of the plaintiff,” the response states. “[The Claremont School District and SAU #6] are entitled to qualified immunity as they did not engage in any conduct that violates a clearly established constitutional right.”

In November, Angela H. Leslie, the plaintiff, filed a civil suit in District Court alleging that numerous school officials, including Stevens High School principal Patricia Barry and Stevens High School Life Skills program instructor Kelly Fontaine, were aware of former Claremont mayor George Caccavaro’s sexual misconduct with a female student when she had attended Stevens. The suit names, in total, George Caccavaro, Patricia Barry, Kelly Fontaine, the Claremont School District, SAU #6, and 10 others presently unidentified as defendants.

In March, Caccavaro, 79, pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor accounts of simple assault, stemming from an incident in February 2019 when Caccavaro, while employed as a paraeducator in the Claremont School District, engaged a female student with disabilities in an inappropriate embrace during a off-campus outing. The student, who is only identified by the courts as “K.L.” was a 20-year-old student in Stevens High School’s Life Skills program, where Caccavaro worked as a classroom assistant. The Life Skills program teaches independent living skills to students with special needs.

In the suit against the district, the family alleges that school officials were aware of inappropriate behavior by Caccavaro in the months leading up to the incident but failed to take adequate measures to protect the student.

The plaintiff’s complaint alleges that Fontaine and other school officials failed to notify guardians or police of reports that Caccavaro was “spending an inappropriate amount of time” with the student, including buying her lunch and bringing her snacks.

The complaint also alleges that Barry took inadequate measures when notified of a separate incident involving Caccavaro before the holiday break in 2018, when Stevens High School teacher Fred HIll allegedly witnessed Caccavaro lean over K.L. and kiss her forehead. According to the police affidavit, Barry said she had directed Caccavaro to focus on students other than K.L., and was surprised to learn when the February incident occurred that Caccavaro was still interacting with K.L.

Notably, the plaintiff’s complaint bases many of its allegations on details from police interviews with witnesses contained in the affidavit. Counsel for the school district frequently said there was not sufficient information for the defendants to either accept or deny the allegations.

The district’s response says the district wishes for a jury trial to address any triable claims.

On Monday, the legal counsels for George Caccavaro and Kelly Fontaine filed separate responses to the plaintiff’s complaint.

Attorney George Ostler, representing Caccavaro, said his defendant also demands a jury trial to hear triable claims.

Attorney Brian Cullen, representing Fontaine, said his client acted in good faith during the time of the alleged incidents and did not violate any rights of the plaintiff to be subject to a civil suit.

In each response the defendant has also demanded a jury trial to hear triable claims.

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