Oxford school to paint over Paterno mural

OXFORD, Conn. (AP) — A middle school will be painting over a mural of the late Penn State football coach Joe Paterno.

Oxford Board of Education member Paula Guillet told the Connecticut Post on Monday that the image, one of a series of inspirational murals at Great Oak Middle School, will be covered before school resumes.

She said the board had considered what do to about the image, which also includes a quote by Paterno, when the Penn State scandal broke last year. "We decided to wait until all the facts were out and the report was complete before we made a decision," Guillet said.

She said interim Superintendent John Reed made the decision after the release of a special investigative report for Penn State by former FBI Director Louis Freeh. A message for comment was left Monday for Reed.

Freeh's report last week said Paterno and other university officials covered up child sex abuse allegations against former assistant Jerry Sandusky to avoid bad publicity. Freeh concluded Paterno intervened to stop a plan by three top Penn State officials to report a 2001 allegation against Sandusky to child-welfare authorities. Paterno's family strongly denies the findings. Sandusky is awaiting sentencing after being convicted of abusing 10 boys.

"We have to put the kids first," Guillet said.

Other "Wall of Heroes" murals at the school show John F. Kennedy, Theodore Roosevelt, Albert Einstein and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Read more at CTPost.com