The principal of a Catholic school in a suburban Cincinnati parish quit her job this week after a student said she misbehaved and berated her for wearing a skirt.
Pastor Don Siciliano November 18 notified Notre Dame parishioners in a letter that Principal Jo Mathieson has mutually agreed with church leadership to step down from his position at the Green Township school.
Siciliano’s letter did not say what prompted Mathieson to leave, but noted that school administrators “received an allegation of concern regarding our principal.” He wrote that the allegation prompted an internal review and referral to the Green Township Police Department, which determined no crime had occurred.
The letter did not provide details about the allegation, but the police report said the incident occurred in a classroom on Nov. 12 when Mathieson confronted a 13-year-old student about her school uniform. According to the report, the girl’s mother called police because her daughter was upset about what she believed to be inappropriate behavior by Mathieson.
The student said the principal shamed her in class for violating the uniform
The report says the girl was approaching her teacher with a question about a math problem when Mathieson, who was helping the teacher that day, noticed the student’s skirt was “rolled up” in violation of the school’s uniform policy.
The girl said Mathieson then reached through her shirt, which was unbuttoned and covered the top of her skirt, and touched her skirt. Mathieson then told the girl that if she wore the same skirt the next day, she would have a meltdown, the police report said.
According to the report, the girl’s mother “reported that her daughter was embarrassed because the principal did this while the class was in session.”
Neither Mathieson nor the girl’s mother could immediately be reached for comment, and Siciliano did not return a call. Jennifer Schack, a spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, said she could not comment further on the details Siciliano provided in his letter to parishioners.
Although church officials would not discuss the findings of an internal review of the incident, the archdiocese’s Child Protection Decree, enacted more than 30 years ago in the wake of clergy abuse scandals, sets strict rules on what physical contact is allowed between children and teachers, coaches, priests and other adults.
The decree prohibits “touching without the child’s permission,” regardless of whether the contact could be considered sexual or threatening.
A similar incident is the latest in West Side parishes
The incident is the latest in a tumultuous year at the three West Side parishes Siciliano leads: Our Lady of the Visitation, St. Jude in Bridgetown and St. Joseph in North Bend. Parishioners complained about his oversight of parishes and said he was not transparent with them about his decisions.
Those concerns came to a head in late May when the Rev. Martin Bachman, a priest at Our Lady of the Visitation, left the parish after admitting to viewing adult pornography and playing inappropriate video games on a computer not owned by the parish.
Earlier this year, parishioners launched a change.org petition listing a series of complaints and concerns from members of all three parishes about the performance of their churches and schools.
“We are deeply concerned about the current direction of leadership and decision-making in our parish,” the petition states. It also calls for better communication between church leaders, greater transparency of parish finances, more autonomy for school teachers and protection from retaliation for parishioners who speak out.
When news of Mathieson’s departure broke this week, dozens of parishioners spoke out on a Facebook page where church members often share complaints and concerns about parish operations. Anonymous posts on the page, which has 1,400 members, mostly supported the girl and criticized Siciliano’s decision not to share information about the incident.
Some posted screenshots of his letter and the police report, along with comments and complaints about how the matter was handled.
“The lack of leadership here is astounding,” one member wrote.
This article originally appeared in the Cincinnati Enquirer: Principal leaves Catholic school after dress code uproar