St. Andrew’s Under Fire for Handling of Racial Incidents

St. Andrew’s Under Fire for Handling of Racial Incidents

As GoLocal unveiled over the past week, two students at St. Andrew's school in Barrington have alleged sexual assault, and another student has been arrested and charged.

That arrest took place on March 3, and that student was charged with sexual assault and simple assault. The student has been ordered to home confinement, ordered to wear an ankle monitor, and has a restraining order against him from contacting the two alleged victims.

While those allegations are being adjudicated, GoLocal has been contacted by a former parent, Kara Civale, and her father, Chris Civale, who served on the board of St. Andrew's, about a series of racial issues and allegations of a de facto cover-up involving long-time basketball coach Mike Hart.

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The family came forward now voicing concern that the experience they had appears to be repeating to the families who have allegedly suffered sexual abuse.

Under Hart, St. Andrew’s has been a mini-basketball factory in which five former students have gone on to play in the NBA, and, according to the school, over 200 have gone on to play college basketball. Hart has coached at St. Andrew’s for over 30 years.  The numbers are remarkable for the Barrington-based boarding school, which claims a total enrollment of just 212 students.

The issues emerging in this case involving Hart are unrelated to the sexual assault allegation now pending in court, but the mother of one of the students and the former board member say the school tried to cover up the issues relating to Hart's actions. They say there is a theme that is emerging in St. Andrew’s handling of the alleged sexual assaults.

The firm hired to investigate both the sexual assault cases and the allegations of verbal abuse by Hart is Oliverio & Marcaccio LLP.

St. Andrew’s defends engaging the same firm for both, saying he is independent. 

“The School retained Mr. [Matthew] Oliverio based on his experience and reputation for independence, be it with regard to the Portsmouth football team or the North Kingstown basketball team. Mr. Oliverio owns his own law firm and is not a member of nor has ever been an attorney with the School's outside law firm,” wrote Patti Doyle, a spokeswoman for the school. The references to Portsmouth and North Kingstown refer to other high-profile Rhode Island sports-related abuse cases.

St. Andrew’s did not directly respond to a question about why the school used Oliviero in each of these investigations (both the racism complaints and the alleged sexual assaults) and why it is not using an out-of-state firm to review the allegations.

 

Legacy

The legal issues are beginning to dwarf the legacy of the school. According to the school’s history, “Rev. William Merrick Chapin founded St. Andrew's School in 1893 to house and educate orphan boys. His legacy is the Chapin Tradition, an ethos of kindness, acceptance, and triumph that honors our Episcopal heritage and fosters an inclusive environment for people of various faiths and beliefs.”

Today, the school’s tuition is more than $75,000, and the head of school, David Tinagero, receives an annual compensation package of $474,670, and his wife also works for the school.

 

Allegations of Verbal Racial Abuse

In January of 2020, Kara Civale, the mother of a former student and basketball player, brought forward a formal complaint to the head of school, David Tinagero — specifically, that Hart had verbally abused her son and three other students.

St. Andrew’s officials had told her they would respond to her within 30 days, according to Kara Civale. She heard nothing for months.

She says that she contacted Tinagero yet again in June of 2020. He apologized for the delay.

The complaints about Hart centered on ongoing verbal abuse of the students, all minorities who came to St. Andrew's and were originally from the Taunton, Massachusetts area.

Specifically, Hart allegedly said to the students and this was included in the complaint:

"You are a little bitch"

"Go back to Taunton"

"You're a pussy"

"You're dumb as shit"

"Taunton is a bunch of pussies"

"Why don't you go join a gang"

"When you get older you will be a garbage man"

Threw a bag of chips at 2 students in front other students and asked if they "had the munchies"

Numerous occasions yelled out in front of many staff and students - "hold your pockets, the Taunton crew is coming. You don't want to get robbed"

"Go back to Taunton, get a tattoo, get some pussy, and come back when you are not a bitch"

"Just go sell drugs and join a gang"

"Go home and tell your mommy to just send another email"

 

Civale says she was contacted by Tinagero and another administrator in October of 2020 and told the review had been completed.  When she asked for a copy of the report, she says that school officials said it was a personnel matter and that they could not share the report. Chris Civale, who continued to serve on the board at the time, said that Tinagero tried to withhold the incidents from the Board of Trustees until he intervened during a Board meeting.

Then, in November of 2020, approximately ten months after the initial complaint, Hart sent Kara Civale’s son a letter of apology.

 

In the letter Hart wrote:

Dear CJ:

I hope this letter finds you doing well and enjoying the fall season. Here at St. Andrew’s, we’re getting ready for the cold weather and hoping for a mild winter.

I am writing to address the recent investigation that the School initiated regarding my role as coach, administrator, and faculty member during your time at St. Andrew’s. What has become clear to me is that no matter what my intentions were, there were comments I made to you that were interpreted in a way that was offensive and hurtful, and for that I sincerely apologize. I have made it my life’s work to help young men elevate their abilities and pursue a future that they have worked hard for. I would never intentionally say or do something that would jeopardize or run counter to that work.

CJ, in raising your concerns, it has given me the opportunity to reflect on how I lead young men, and areas in which I can continue to grow. Please know that I am committed to doing better.

Again, I want to apologize for any pain or discomfort I may have cause it was never my intent to do so and I wish you nothing but the best in the future.

 

Chris Civale said, “I found the apology to be pathetic.”

In response to questions from GoLocal about the Hart incident, Doyle wrote, “Mr. Tinagero is on a leave of absence for personal reasons. The School cannot comment on characterizations he may or may not have made in 2020. Under no circumstances would St. Andrew's tolerate racial comments. To claim otherwise is just not true. The personnel matter was dealt with by the school.  St. Andrew’s does not release personnel documents.    

 

School Says It Does Not Tolerate Racial Comments

But while the school claims it does not “tolerate racial comments,” a group of minority students and alumni in 2020 produced a video, "A letter to St. Andrew's," posted to YouTube articulating that the school’s administration is “ill-informed on issues of race.” Another student in the video says that the administration tries to silence students when they raise issues on race.

Another student states in the video, "[We] have been silenced in the St. Andrew's community, making us feel that it is not truly a safe space where our voices are heard."

 

 

The criticism by those students is similar to that voiced by Kara and Chris Civale.

“They isolate anyone who tries to complain, they deflect and try to minimize, and then they delay,” said Chris Civale. “Then, they isolate (whoever complains).”

Chris Civale added that internally, he repeatedly heard the leadership of the school say, “We have a responsibility to protect the institution.” 

 

TInagero on Leave

GoLocal was the first to report that the head of school is on leave.

In his message distributed a few weeks ago to staff, Tinagero announced that he was taking a leave.

Tinagero wrote, “I want to let you know that I will be taking a leave of absence for family reasons and will be away from campus for a period of time.”

In addition, Tinagero wrote, “Thank you for your understanding and for continuing to support one another and our students..

 

Broken Culture

“It's a broken culture, unfortunately. Because there are obviously people down there. There are people who I know that are still there that I happen to like and I admire. But the culture is that instead of putting the students first, they protect individuals…," said Chris Civale.