Schools

Superintendent: 'We Had Been Lied To' About Summer Camp

Superintendent John Ambrogi sent the following letter to school committee members on Monday regarding the summer camp that was using Coggeshall School.

Newport Superintendent John Ambrogi sent the following letter to school committee members on Monday, Aug. 19, regarding a private daycare's use of Coggeshall School. The day care, Tender Care Learning Center, located at 38 Marcus Wheatland Blvd., is under investigation after the 17-year-old son of co-owner Gregory Johnson allegedly molested a 5-year-old girl while working at the center.  

"Please be advised that I found out this morning that Gregory Johnson misrepresented his organization in his request for the use of Coggeshall School.

As you can see, from the attached documentation, Mr. Johnson and his representative, Mrs. Barbara Winters, were clearly noticed that there was a requirement that they have a “not for profit” status and, indeed, this was reinforced in Mr. Fagan’s letter to Mrs. Winters on May 6, 2013. Additionally, please find information that was e-mailed to us which appeared to support that this operation at Coggeshall School was a legitimate “not for profit". We even received documentation from their insurance company that indicated that that was the case.

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Mr. Johnson and his organization removed their equipment from Coggeshall School early this morning, and Mr. Johnson was involved in a yelling and screaming match with Paul Fagan who had asked to be there to oversee this process. Additionally, Mr. Johnson also had an issue with one of the neighbor’s across the street. Mr. Johnson was not arrested but was, indeed, given a strong verbal warning.

The School Department acted in good faith in this situation, believing there was a substantial benefit to students in our community. We now find that we had been lied to.

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