Jeremy Boland is the Assistant Principal of Cos Cob Elementary School in Greenwich, Connecticut. He was supposed to start the new school year on September 1. But he never showed up. His anti-Catholic comments put him in hot water, and we had something to do with it. He was placed on administrative leave, pending an investigation.
Boland was caught on a video filmed by Project Veritas saying he would never hire a Catholic. He oversees the hiring of teachers. Here is part of the exchange.
Boland: “I’m not a huge expert on religion, but Protestants in this area [of Connecticut] are probably the most liberal. But if they’re Catholic—conservative.”
Veritas Journalist: “Oh, so then what do you do with the Catholics? If you find someone is Catholic, then what?”
Boland: “You don’t hire them.”
Veritas Journalist: “So, would you never hire a Catholic then?”
Boland: “No, I don’t want to…Because if someone is raised hardcore Catholic, it’s like they’re brainwashed. You can never change their mindset.”
Bill Donohue jumped on this immediately, issuing a statement to the press that was picked up all over the Connecticut media. “There is no role for an admitted anti-Catholic bigot in any school in the nation. What makes this case a legal slam dunk is that Boland is not simply spewing anti-Catholic vitriol, he is in charge of hiring and has explicitly said he would not hire Catholics. That is illegal.”
We enlisted the support of our email subscribers asking them to contact Dr. Toni Jones, Superintendent of Greenwich Schools, about this issue. We also contacted elected officials.
We are delighted to report that subsequent to our news release, Jones announced that Boland was placed on leave, pending the completion of an investigation. Cos Cob is a prestigious public school in a wealthy neighborhood.
The reaction of public figures in Connecticut to this outrage, from both parties, was heartening. It is not enough to conduct a probe of Boland: We need to know if anti-Catholic bigotry is entrenched in Greenwich public schools. At a minimum, this means there must be a review of hiring procedures.
Donohue wrote to officials at the State Department of Education and the Greenwich Public Schools, asking for such a probe. He wanted to know how many Catholics have been turned away from employment in Greenwich public schools, and if religious profiling is systemic in the schools.
We are awaiting the conclusion of the investigation. We were the only lay Catholic organization to register a protest.
