'Things happen': BPS Board Chair unfazed by principal, teacher arrest over alleged teen house party | FOX 35 Orlando

'Things happen': BPS Board Chair unfazed by principal, teacher arrest over alleged teen house party

For the first time since two Brevard School employees were arrested for allegedly holding a booze-filled house party in Cocoa Beach, FOX 35 heard from the school board on the issue.

The board chair says what happened wasn’t that bad, and they’ve seen worse situations in the past.

Gene Trent didn’t want to comment much on details surrounding the arrests. He says he read the police report and is comfortable with how the district is handling the investigation. This comes as parents are still concerned.

"I think it’s personally disgusting," said one parent who didn’t want to be identified.

"I hate that it happened," added a grandma who told us her grandchild had to be picked up early from the party earlier this month.

"I’m upset as a parent," echoed Kimberly Bounds who has a child at Roosevelt Elementary.

RELATED: Florida principal hosts underage house party; Alcohol, marijuana, fights, and gun found: affidavit

That’s how some parents reacted days after news broke that the Roosevelt Elementary School principal, Elizabeth Hill-Brodigan, and 3rd grade teacher, Karly Anderson, were both arrested for allegedly hosting and attending a drunken house party with almost 200 students at the principal’s own home.

"This isn’t anything new. When we have thousands of employees, things happen," said board chair Gene Trent.

FOX 35’s Esther Bower spoke with the school board chair on Tuesday to ask him about how the district is handling the arrests.

He says BPS did the right thing by placing both staff members on leave until the investigation is over.

But he also said, he doesn't think these arrests should be making headlines.

"I’ve read the police report, and it seems that it was a teenage party," said Trent.

What we know:

The police report says the principal helped organize the party and had coolers of booze ready and available to students. Children were smoking weed and playing with a gun. One left the party and was arrested for DUI. Another child passed out in the grass, and the principal turned off the lights on her property as first responders tried to help is all listed in the charging documents.

Police have never seen a case like this in Cocoa Beach.

"This is a first for me," said Taylor Payne who’s a detective sergeant with Cocoa Beach police.

Trent wasn’t as surprised.

FOX 35’s Esther Bower asked Trent if he had ever seen or heard or been part of anything quite like this since police were so shocked.

"You cannot be a parent and not have seen or heard of a teenage party. I’ve read articles where it has lead to student deaths you know and car crashes as they’ve left parties," said Trent. "As far as I know, that didn’t happen here."

The school board is not involved in the ongoing investigation, but Trent says this will come up at a future meeting if either staff members’ current roles in the district end up changing.

What we don't know:

Students claimed these parties happened once or twice a month. It's unclear if police were called to those alleged parties for similar concerns at this most recent one. The principal and teacher have not publicly commented on their arrests or investigation. FOX 35's attempts to reach them have been unsuccessful.

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The Source: The information in this article comes from reporting done by FOX 35's Esther Bower.

Brevard CountyCrime and Public Safety