The Brody file at CBN is reporting a statement from Kevin Jennings regarding Brewster/Robertson/Thompson:
“Twenty one years later I can see how I should have handled this situation differently. I should have asked for more information and consulted legal or medical authorities. Teachers back then had little training or guidance about this kind of thing. All teachers should have a basic level of preparedness. I would like to see the Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools play a bigger role in helping to prepare teachers.”
-Kevin Jennings, Assistant Deputy Secretary, Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools
Brody reports that Education Secretary Arne Duncan also released a statement:
“Kevin Jennings has dedicated his professional career to promoting school safety. He is uniquely qualified for his job and I am honored to have him on our team.”
-Arne Duncan, Education Secretary
Well, that leaves some unanswered questions (why did he imply through his lawyer that he did not know what the boy was doing?), but it is a welcome acknowledgement that teachers should not follow his example.
Updates to come…
The Associated Press has the story. Media Matters ignores Jennings own statement that the young man in question was 15. In any event, he acknowledged that he should have sought advice.
The Brody File broke this story yesterday but contains a curious statement that I cannot verify. Brody said:
Basically, Jennings pretty much apologized for the incident a couple decades ago.
I wrote to ask Brody for a source on an apology with no reply as yet. In the 2004 letter from his law firm Nixon Peabody, Jennings did not apologize for anything. In fact, he denied much of what he now acknowledges.
This is a denial, not an apology.
Does Diane Lenning get an apology now?