Thursday, May 16, 2013
Michael Divincenzo faces eight misdemeanor charges related to reports of physical assaults at Maine West High School in Des Plaines in 2012, according to Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez.
A former varsity boys soccer coach and teacher at Maine West High School faces multiple criminal charges related to reports of bullying and hazing, Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez stated on Wednesday. Michael Divincenzo was charged with eight misdemeanor counts including three counts of battery, one count of hazing and four counts of failure to report abuse as mandated, in incidents on June 1, 2012, Aug. 31, 2012 and Sept. 26, 2012, according to court documents. Divincenzo is accused of threatening freshmen students to have the varsity players stick their thumbs up their buttocks if they did not communicate properly during a soccer drill, according to the charges. Freshmen team players were held down by varsity players against …
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
A former Maine West High School soccer coach, Michael Divincenzo, faces multiple misdemeanor charges related to reports of hazing at the Des Plaines high school, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
Michael Divincenzo, the former varsity boys soccer coach named in a bullying and hazing lawsuit filed by current and former students and their families, was charged on May 15 with multiple misdemeanor charges related to the reports of hazing incidents, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. The criminal charges are separate from the civil lawsuit, which was filed by four current and former students. Antonio Romanucci, an attorney representing the students and their families, released the following statement in response to the criminal charges filed against Divincenzo: "The fact that Coach Divincenzo has been criminally charged brings no joy to the families whose children were brutally sexually abused while educators stood idly by allowing it to…
Friday, May 10, 2013
The attorney representing Maine West High School students in a hazing lawsuit stated a report from Maine Township High School District 207 does not address key issues.
The lawyer representing four current and former Maine West High School students and their families in a bullying and hazing lawsuit stated there were significant omissions in a report on hazing incidents in the school district. Maine Township High School District 207 hired an attorney to complete an independent investigation into hazing incidents and policies within the district, and report back to the board of education. That process concluded and D-207 released a copy of a report on the investigation and a statement about it this week. The report stated D-207 and Maine West staff responded properly and appropriately to reports of hazing in September 2012. Antonio Romanucci, the attorney representing the four students in the bullying and …
An independent investigator hired by Maine Township High School District 207 to review hazing incidents and policies within the district reported his findings to the board of education.
An independent investigator hired by Maine Township High School District 207 to review hazing incidents and policies within the district reported that district officials responded appropriately. Sergio Acosta, an attorney at Hinshaw & Culbertson, stated that D-207 and staff at Maine West High School in Des Plaines responded properly and promptly when reports of hazing were made in September 2012, according to a statement from D-207. "The Board is pleased to learn that administrative employees at both the building and District office levels responded appropriately to the hazing allegations," D-207 stated. "The Board isalso pleased to receive Mr. Acosta’s recommendations which will be carefully considered for implementation as part of the …
Thursday, January 31, 2013
The law firm representing four former and current students in a hazing lawsuit against D-207 administrators and faculty claims a letter sent to Dr. Audrey Haugan from the parent of a student at the Des Plaines high school in 2008 is evidence Maine Townshi
A lawyer representing current and former students in the Maine West High School hazing case alleged that the school's principal knew about the abuse in 2008. Antonio Romanucci, of Romanucci & Blandin, said a letter sent to Maine West Principal Audrey Haugan in 2008 showed she knew about the abuse, and did not report it to District 207, as required by law. Ken Wallace, superintendent at D-207, said in November that the first reports the district received of bullying and hazing at the Des Plaines high school were in September 2012. Romanucci addressed the press outside the District 207 boardroom, where members were meeting in closed session about a variety of hazing-related issues. Romanucci said that the school board has acknowledged the …
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Employee discipline and other issues related to the investigation of bullying and hazing reports at Maine West High School in Des Plaines will be discussed by Maine Township High School District 207 Board of Education in Park Ridge on Thursday.
A special school district meeting to discuss a variety of issues related to bullying and hazing reports at Maine West High School in Des Plaines will be held in Park Ridge on Thursday. Maine Township High School District 207 Board of Education voted in favor of initiating the dismissal process on one coach, Michael DiVincenzo, named in a lawsuit filed by four families of current or former students in November at a meeting in December, and other administrators, coaches and district employees are named in the complaint. Listed on the agenda for the closed session portion of the special board meeting, announced by D-207 on Tuesday, are matters related to individual students, appointment, employment, compensation, performance, discipline or …
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Hundreds attended a special Maine Township High School District 207 meeting in Park Ridge on Wednesday to discuss personnel issues related to the bullying and hazing allegations at Maine West High School.
Impassioned statements made by current and former Maine West High School students, and one parent, in support of coaches scrutinized by the school district over bullying and hazing allegations were not enough to convince board members to continue employing the varsity soccer coach and high school teacher Michael DiVincenzo. Tait Jensen said he played on the varsity soccer team at Maine West for three years, and was co-captain of the team for one year. “The culture Divo and Rodriguez created and sanctioned was exactly what you want your schools’ athletic programs to have,” Jensen said. “It wasn’t a culture of hazing or mistreatment or assault; it was an atmosphere of friendship and understanding that fostered trust amongst players and …
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
A special meeting for the Maine Township High School District 207 Board of Education is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Dec. 19.
A special meeting of the Maine Township High School District 207 Board of Education to discuss personnel matters related to the investigation into bullying and hazing allegations was scheduled for Wednesday. The meeting will include an opportunity for public comment, said David Beery, spokesperson for D-207. The board will go into closed executive session, Beery said, return to open session and take a vote, if needed, on any personnel matter. Five D-207 employees were reassigned following the allegations of bullying and hazing. Michael Divincenzo and Emilio Rodriguez have teaching contracts with D-207 and are coaches at Maine West High School in Des Plaines. Divincenzo and Rodriguez were reassigned with pay, pending the result of D-207’s …
Monday, December 10, 2012
The Daily Herald reported several experts’ explanations about how and why hazing occurs.
In light of reports of hazing at Maine West High School in Des Plaines and Hoffman Estates High School, the Daily Herald reported what experts on the subject had to say about what it is, why it persists, what can be done about it and more. In a Patch poll which asked readers, are schools doing enough to stop hazing, bullying?, 39 readers voted no, schools are too often a breeding ground for this type of behavior. Eight readers voted yes, the ultimate responsibility falls on the students and their parents, not the schools. Four families of current or former Maine West students filed a hazing and bullying complaint against Maine Township High School District 207 administrators, faculty, coaches and staff in November. The Illinois Department …
Sunday, December 9, 2012
Patch readers voted in a poll which asked, are schools doing enough to stop hazing, bullying?
In our Patch poll last week, we asked Patch readers, are schools doing enough to stop hazing, bullying? Eight readers, 17 percent of the total votes, voted, yes, the ultimate responsibility falls on the students and their parents, not the schools, as of Dec. 9. The majority of readers, 39, which was 82 percent of the vote, voted no, schools are too often a breeding ground for this type of behavior. Readers also discussed the issue in the comment section, where, as of Dec. 9, 79 comments were posted. Here is a roundup of some of what readers wrote in the comment section. GuitarMan: Our community is at fault, just as much as schools are. We shrink from telling others they are disrespectful to others, and create a standard, bullying, that is …
Sam
1:21 pm on Thursday, May 16, 2013
In the May 16th Suntimes, the charges were dropped against the students who were involved because their peers (victims) didn't want to press charges. So are these kids saying it wasn't as bad as they claimed? If that's the case what is the coach being charged for? Did the coach force his team to hold down other students on the team and sodomize them? They interviewed 100 people regarding the … more ›