Superintendent resigns after assault in a school hallway on a New Jersey girl who killed herself a few days later

The principal of the New Jersey school district where 14-year-old Adriana Cooch was attacked by students in the hallway and killed herself a few days later has resigned.

Cooch was found dead at her home in Bayville two days after the February 1 attack on the high school. The attack was recorded, officials said, and the four students involved in the attack were suspended and charged.

The Central Regional School District announced on Saturday that it has accepted the resignation of superintendent Triantafyllos Parlapanidis.

“The Central Region family continues to mourn the loss of one of our children,” the statement posted on the county’s website said. “The Central Regional School District is evaluating all current and past allegations of bullying.”

The county did not elaborate on why Parlapanides resigned and did not respond to requests for comment.

The former superintendent made comments in interviews with newspapers, including the DailyMail, in which he suggested the teen was using drugs and her father turned down the county’s offers of help.

In an interview with the New York Post, Cooch’s father, Michael Cooch, accused Parlapanides of “blaming” his daughter and said she was not offered drug counseling. The father added that his daughter had experimented with the vape pen with marijuana, but not with other drugs.

NBC News contacted Michael Kuch on Sunday. On Saturday, he released the county’s announcement of Parlapanides’ resignation on his Facebook, writing, “I’ll let that speak for itself.”

According to NBC New York, Parlapanides resigned during an emergency meeting on Saturday to discuss his comments.

The resignation came a day after the memorial service for the teenager.

The Kucha attack at the Central Regional High School received nationwide attention after a video of it was posted online.

Of the four students allegedly involved in the assault, one was charged with aggravated assault, another with stalking, and two with conspiracy to commit aggravated assault, Ocean County Attorney Bradley D. Billheimer said Friday.

Their names are not disclosed. NBC News generally does not name juveniles accused of crimes, even those charged as adults.

“Each juvenile and their guardian was given a copy of their complaint and released pending future court appearances,” Billheimer said.

Michael Kuch said in posts on Facebook and NBC New York that several students attacked his daughter as she walked with her boyfriend in the hallway.

He posted on Facebook that a video of the fight had been posted online and tagged freshman Adriana. He said that he thought it was posted to “make fun of her on the internet”.

Cooch expressed outrage at the school’s handling of the incident, telling NBC New York that the police were never called, although Adriana passed out and had bruises on her body.

Before stepping down as superintendent, Parlapanides said on Friday that the police had been notified and that “teachers and security personnel” had intervened in the fight. He declined to provide further information about the students involved or the fight.

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