November 4, 2023 By Carol Britton Meyer
Limited information is available following the arrest of a substitute teacher at Hingham Middle School on the morning of Friday, Oct. 27.
According to Hingham Police Chief David Jones, the arrest of Charlotte Kathryn Cody, 55, of Scituate, “was made by us, but the original charges were from an outside agency” — the Scituate Police Department.
Pending further details, concerned and angry parents are asking, How did this happen? Supt. of Schools Dr. Margaret Adams issued a statement about the arrest a week later, on Nov. 3. (See below for details.)
Jones said there was “never a danger to students or faculty, and responding officers made every effort to ensure that students did not witness the arrest. There’s not much else to report — no additional charges from us — it was an arrest for a warrant from another agency,” he told the Hingham Anchor.
Cody, who wears a GPS monitoring device according to published reports, was called to the school’s office around 10 a.m. and taken into custody without incident on Oct. 27.
Court documents indicate past charges, including an attempt to commit a crime and trespassing.
On Oct. 27, Cody was ordered committed without bail to the Plymouth County House of Correction, with a pretrial hearing scheduled for Nov. 28. No further details are available at this time. Other past charges relate to animal cruelty.
A Hingham teacher contacted the Hingham Anchor about the incident, expressing concern that “at this point, the disregard for student and teacher safety has not been addressed to the faculty or parents. It was a complete breakdown of the CORI process that allowed her on the grounds of Hingham Middle School. Students and faculty have a right to a safe school.”
In a message from the superintendent on Friday, Nov. 3, Adams explained that a substitute teacher had been arrested on Oct. 27 after being called down to the office and was escorted out of the building by the Hingham Police Department.
“Although personnel matters are confidential and the specifics of such matters may not be discussed, we take student and staff safety very seriously,” the statement said. “In this case, the district followed all of its regular employment procedures and processes.”
In response to an email from the Hingham Anchor as a follow-up to Adams’ statement — asking her to outline the regular procedures and processes as far as employment and criminal checks are concerned — she replied: “The Hingham School Committee has policies in regard to CORIs and background checks. These were completed in this case.”
The Hingham Anchor is awaiting a response to a follow-up email sent to Adams asking her to explain what those policies are.
In response to an earlier email sent by the Hingham Anchor, Adams said in part that her public statement “is the information that I am able to share at this point. As I stated, we did follow our regular procedures and process as far as employment and criminal checks.”
Adams also told the Hingham Anchor that she “checked in with the principals of each school where [Cody] had been present and have not found any concerns.”
The investigation is ongoing.
School committee would like to apologize to the middle school parents? Nes writes “ Understandably, this incident is unsettling for our entire community, particularly our middle school families”. Is she just not aware that this employee was in ALL of our school buildings. Does she not understand that no one has stepped up and taken responsibility? If this major breach of our schools is being swept under the rug, what else is not being told to us? How do you trust this group in contract negotiations? Lies lies and finger pointing
I love your replies. Are you a Hingham parent?
School committee would like to apologize to the middle school parents? Nes writes ” Understandably, this incident is unsettling for our entire community, particularly our middle school families”. Is she just not aware that this employee was in ALL of our school buildings. Does she not understand that no one has stepped up and taken responsibility? If this major breach of our schools is being swept under the rug, what else is not being told to us? How do you trust this group in contract negotiations?
Lies, lies, and finger pointing.