The New Jersey superintendent who was under fire for blaming the family of the 14-year-old student who killed herself has resigned.
Triantafillos Parlapanides, the head of the Central Regional School District, submitted his resignation following an emergency school board meeting over the weekend, NBC News reported.
“The Central Regional School District Board of Education has accepted the resignation of Dr. Triantafillos Parlapanides,” the district’s website reads, adding that the district is “evaluating all current and past allegations of bullying” and would undergo “an independent assessment” of its anti-bullying policies.
Parlapanides sparked outrage after making insensitive remarks following the 14-year-old’s suicide. He blamed Adriana Kuch’s family, saying her father’s “affair” and her own drug use caused turmoil in her life, the New York Post reported.
He told the Daily Mail that the girl’s grades and choices declined when she was in 7th and 8th grade.
“We offered her drug rehab and mental services on five occasions, but the father refused every time,” he added.
A statement her father, Michael Kuch, denied. He said she was never offered drug treatment and had merely experimented with a weed vape like other teens.
Adriana took her life on Feb. 3, two days after four other students at the school badly beat her. Her family said she continued to be bullied.
The family called for the resignation of the superintendent. “I want that entire administration gone,” Kuch told The Post Saturday. “The superintendent slandering people, bashing people. Calling Adriana a drug addict. What is wrong with this guy? He is incompetent.”
After hearing about Parlapanides’ resignation, the family said it was a “first step complete” and that they “want the school to start changing and taking accountability.”
