BERKELEY – Central Regional Superintendent Triantafillos Parlapanides apologized to the Kuch family and resigned from his position.
“I want to apologize to the Kuch family. I can’t imagine what Mr. Kuch is going through,” he said in an interview with The Berkeley Times.
He said he’s lost his parents, and he’s lost friends to suicide, but he couldn’t begin to think about what it’s like to lose a child to suicide.
“I wish him well. I pray for him every night. God gives us strength,” he said. “I want to let Central heal. There’s a lot of good people here. I want the Kuch family to heal.”
Adriana Kuch, 14, was beat up at school by four girls who filmed the attack. They spread the video on social media. She was found dead by her stepmother soon after. The tragedy made people question whether the district did enough to protect her and punish the bullies.
While many protests and vigils called for an end to bullying, it seemed like there was a lot of it going on after her death. The four girls were named online, and became targets. School officials received death threats and their home addresses were shared. People online criticized the kids who were protesting outside the school, saying they were just using it as an excuse to leave class and go to the 7-Eleven across the street.
The district put out a statement that the protests shouldn’t disrupt school. They would be working with the township police to make sure they are safe.
School officials went out to talk to the kids at the protests. In the beginning, Parlapanides didn’t reveal much to reporters about the situation since it involved minors. After days of being under attack by media and people from around the world, he fired back with a list of problems with the Kuch family and how the district tried to help her. He resigned days later.
Jersey Shore Online will not be repeating the statements that he made.
The district is now directing media requests to a public relations company.
Parlapanides is a Central grad and had been a teacher and principal in the school. He was known for making Central a School Choice district, allowing kids from outside the area to pay tuition to come; starting the JROTC; and bringing the district’s debt to zero. In the early 2000s, he was a councilman in Seaside Park.
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