Ted Samodel, Branford High School’s director of instrumental music, has abruptly left his teaching position in the middle of the spring term. Apparently he has been placed on paid administrative leave, following an inquiry from the State Department of Children and Family Services (DCF) concerning disparaging remarks students say he has made for years.
In an undated and unaddressed note, Lee Panagoulias, Jr., Branford High’s principal, informed parents of band and orchestra students that Samodel “is on leave of absence for an undetermined period of time. We will immediately begin the process of hiring a long term substitute in his place.” Samodel is a tenured teacher.
Panagoulias provided no reason for Samodel’s abrupt departure, but it happened so unexpectedly that he was forced to give up his role as lead trumpet player in the high school’s upcoming play, “On the Town.” It opens Wednesday.
In an interview with the Eagle, Panagoulias would not describe the circumstances of Samodel’s departure. He would not say if the leave was voluntary or involuntary. To every question of this nature, he answered in the same way: “It would be inappropriate for me to answer.” Samodel did not respond to an e‑mail and a call seeking comment. We will continue to try.
But the Eagle has learned from others familiar with the legal process that when the DCF investigates a teacher, the teacher is immediately placed on paid administrative leave until such time as the inquiry is resolved. Then the teacher either returns to his school or does not.
The Branford Eagle published an article on Feb. 1 on the challenges facing the band and orchestra, which elicited widespread response from current and former students.
Panagoulias would not provide any information about what prompted Samodel’s departure. School administrators and the Board of Education have been under pressure from parents to examine the reasons for the disintegration of the band and orchestra during the time Samodel served as its teacher and leader.
Jacqueline Polverari, who has two children in the band and orchestra at the high school and another child about to enter the high school, is the acknowledged parent leader. She said in an interview that on the day her two high school kids came home with Panagoulias’s note that Samodel had left, she received an answer to an e‑mail letter she had sent to Scott Shuler, a state department of education music official. She told Shuler she had hit a brick wall when it came to school officials taking any action with regard to Samodel and the declining instrumental programs.
“This is a teacher that keeps a log of every offending thing he says to children. I am asking for help and guidance. Where do we turn to when our kids are being blatantly emotionally abused by a teacher, put in potential danger by this teacher and the administration just wants to look the other way because it is easier? We keep hitting brick walls. One of the parents did put a formal complaint into DCF today regarding this teacher,” she told him. Please … any help you can give with this …”
Shuler wrote to Polverari by e‑mail on March 8. He said he had contacted “the school district leadership to find out how it is following up on your concerns. They indicated that they have taken several significant steps.” He also noted that a DCF inquiry was underway. “Hopefully those responses are addressing your concerns.”
Samodel, who has been teaching at Branford High for a decade, has witnessed the student exodus from orchestra and band. Polverari alerted school officials more than two years ago about the problem. But unlike the case of elementary school teacher Denise Farina, school officials did not step in. Farina was first placed on a Teachers Improvement Plan (TIP), a step school administrators could have taken to help Samodel. Polverari agreed that would have been important to do and might have avoided the current problems.
The school orchestra currently consists of seven members — with one who just quit. A small orchestra needs at least 41 players. The largest orchestras have 96 members. The school band has 15 members. One student said, “I quit because the music wasn’t anything that would enhance my music skills or make me better. The environment the teacher created was unfriendly and made me dread going to class.”
Parents were concerned that Samodel berated students, often to the point where they dropped out of band or orchestra. He was also known to keep a diary or log of every offensive remark he made to kids. The book was kept in the band room.
Polverari also said Samodel held a prayer group in the band room at 7:30 a.m. called the Hope Club. She raised concerns. For a time it was listed on the band’s website. According to his website, Samodel also leads an outside Contemporary Christian group, Tower of Praise, an 11-piece horn band .
When Panagoulias investigated this issue, he told Polverai that Samodel “expressed his beliefs regarding evolution or the use of God in a sentence but only when in response to a student remark or comment. It was stated to Mr. Samodel that commenting about his religious beliefs or reacting to another’s religious beliefs at school was inappropriate from a teacher representing a public school.”
In an interview, Polverari said she has tried numerous times without success to get the band/orchestra issue placed on the agenda of the Board of Education’s teaching and learning committee. She said School Superintendent Dr. Kathleen Halligan repeatedly told her she could not discuss personnel issues.
Board of Education Chairman Frank Carrano told Polverari in an e‑mail that he was aware of her interest in the music program, and “I applaud you for that. Branford schools have a commitment to the arts and we would like to do more in support of all forms of artistic expression opportunities for our students. You want to personalize the conversation and that is inappropriate. We are willing to provide opportunities for conversations related to the improvement of the music program but we are not willing to have a discussion that is centered around any individual on our staff,” he wrote.
Carrano raised the law as a key issue. “The employees of the school district are entitled to protection, by law, against any public conversations of their performance. We intend to respect that requirement. The situation is in your hands, you can continue to demand something that we cannot provide for you or you can agree to work with us to develop the best music program possible in the Branford school district.” He then went on to tell her that he would be “willing to place the music program on a future agenda if you are willing to play by the rules.”
In the aftermath of Samodel’s departure, Polverari said Samodel deserved help. “Shame on the Board of Education and the BHS administration. I think this entire situation has been handled wrong. The BOE refused to allow me to speak at any teaching and learning committee meeting. They refused to put the decline of the instrumental music program on the agenda and it appears that with the very quick ‘disappearance’ of the director Mr. Samodel they could bury any wrong doing that they have done….they were forced to take action by both DCF and the State of Connecticut.”
Panagoulias said he is looking for a qualified substitute for the band and orchestra program. The current substitute has no musical ability, the kids told their parents. The school administration is also conducting a band and orchestra survey for grades 5 through 12. The aim, Panagoulias said is to “get input from the students about recruitment and retention in our band and orchestra program.”
The band still has no uniforms, one of the only schools on the shoreline to be without them, Polverari said. Panagoulias told her that that would change.
Polverari said there is hope. At the eighth grade high school orientation, she said, the kids in the band and orchestra came together without a teacher and put together a table with lots of information about the band and orchestra. They played their instruments and promoted the program.
Prior to Ted Samodel’s departure on Friday, March 5, she said, “there was nothing put in place to have such a table. The kids did that all on their own and I was never more proud as a parent as I had two kids standing there acting mature and showing their love for their school, their program and their instruments.”
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It took a LONG time for this to happen. Several BOE's ignored the same comments and questionable activities I and others brought to light many years ago. Even nearby instructors knew of the behavior and refused to do anything about this or stand up for the students that went to them for guidance and help. Those still on the BOE who refused to hear our complaints years ago should hang their heads. Now is the time to bring in concerned parents and interested citizens to find a replacement and resurrect a failed instrumental program. Let's get started now!