PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Adding to the Pittsfield High School's woes is a lawsuit filed in federal court accusing officials failing to intervene in a teacher's sexual harassment of a student. 

 

The school last week put two of its administrators on leave because of external investigations: Dean of Students Lavante Wiggins was arrested and arraigned by federal authorities on drug trafficking charges and the other is the subject of an investigation by the state Department of Children and Families.

 

The lawsuit, first reported by The Berkshire Eagle, was filed in September in U.S. District Court in Springfield. 

 

A PHS student has accused retired English teacher Robert Barsanti of making inappropriate comments to her and to the class and Pittsfield Public Schools for failing to act. Barsanti apparently retired at the end of the last school year based on a post on the Pittsfield Public Schools' Facebook page. 

 

According to the court documents, the teacher made comments about the plaintiff's mother using her home technology to make porn, told students that he had worked at a strip club called the Golden Banana and assigned them to write a story about it, discussed the sexual proclivities of animals, frequently discussed his porn addiction and made jokes about a transgender student's genitalia. 

 

The complainant also states that Barsanti put her face between his hands and asked her to go into a closet with him. 

 

The student and her mother met with school officials, according to the lawsuit, notified the Title IX coordinator and filed a written complaint. They say other students corroborated their account.