Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) Marc Bruno has been teaching in Buffalo Public Schools for 24 years, mostly at Riverside High School.
He watched the Unsubscribe podcast where detective Richard Hy blew the whistle on a series of coverups within the district. Bruno said he has seen first hand, the district trying to downplay issues as a regular speaker at school board meetings.
"When I speak at school board meetings about violence at Riverside, they change my speech titles. If my speech title is escalating violence at Riverside, they change it to Riverside High School. It's done so that the media doesn't pick up on it and send a camera crew to the meeting."
Bruno believes there is a culture of downplaying these issues, whether it's school violence or Richard Hy's allegations.
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"I do believe they do everything possible to downplay it."
Bruno has concerns about the independent investigation that the school board has agreed to.
"Number one," he said, "who is doing it? If it's a law firm that does business with the district or is attached to a law firm that is associated with the district, that would be a major concern."
In February of 2021, an independent investigation was launched after the
McKinley High School shooting and stabbing. That report has yet to be released to the public.
"The board should do their due diligence and make sure the investigator is reputable and have no ties to people who work within the district, or to lawyers who work for the district," added Bruno.
We asked if he thinks the report will ever be released? "They say they're doing it to put out the fire so to speak. But it could take years, and might not ever be released."