The head of school and chairman of the Board of Trustees of the West Hartford private school sent a joint letter to the KO community Friday, advising that an investigation has been started.

Kingswood Oxford, West Hartford. Facebook photo

By Ronni Newton

Kingswood Oxford School has opened an investigation into alleged sexual misconduct involving faculty in the 1970s and 1980s, according to a letter sent to the KO community by Head of School Dennis Bisgaard and Board of Trustees Chairman I. Bradley Hoffman Friday afternoon.

The letter states that the West Hartford private secondary school is “committed to thoroughly investigating and addressing any report of suspected sexual misconduct that is brought to our attention, even if it may have occurred in the past.” Concerns about faculty conduct in the 1970s and 1980s were brought forward late last week, according to the letter.

“Any allegation, no matter when it’s from, needs to be taken seriously,” Bisgaard said Friday in a phone interview. “We need to do the investigation, to figure it out, and take it seriously for the sake of the community,” he said.

The law firm of Robinson & Cole has been engaged to investigate those concerns, as well as any other information that may arise. Kingswood Oxford is also inviting anyone who may have information and/or concerns about sexual misconduct that may have occurred to contact the school.

“We believe we’re addressing the issue appropriately,” said Bisgaard.

KO had already initiated a review of the school’s “policies and procedures related to hiring, monitoring, and reporting of suspected instances of sexual misconduct” earlier this year, the letter indicates, in light of the reports of “heartbreaking and troubling reports about sexual abuse of students at private schools in the Northeast.”

In May, the Boston Globe published a spotlight story about alleged sexual abuse at 67 private schools in New England, including the Taft School in Connecticut. Kingswood Oxford was not named in that article.

Bisgaard and Hoffman, in their letter, state that its revised policies and procedures will be shared with the KO community this summer, prior to the start of the next academic year.

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