WESTBROOK – Westbrook High School Assistant Principal Howard Jack, who has been at the center of criticism in the wake of very public comments of a student about bullying at the school, has been placed on paid administrative leave by the school department.

Human Resources Director Martha Sumner confirmed that Jack was on leave, but declined to comment any further on the matter, referring all questions to Superintendent Marc Gousse.

Gousse said that Jack was placed on indefinite paid leave “pending the outcome and findings of an investigation relating to a student matter.”

While Gousse said he couldn’t comment on the specific matter, he did add, “the administrative investigation that we’re conducting is not related to any criminal activity.”

Gousse would not comment if the leave was in connection with the letter written by Westbrook High School junior Tori Pabst last month, in which she criticized the school, and specifically Jack, for the way her complaints about bullying were handled.

Pabst said she placed her letter along with copied pages of taunts and harassing posts from social media sites in Jack’s school mailbox, but got no acknowledgement. She finally took the letter to teachers and then released it to the media, where it got national attention.

Pabst’s mother, Terri Pabst said that she was happy to see Jack placed on leave. “I think it’s a good thing,” she said, adding that she attended a meeting along with her daughter with Gousse and Principal Tom O’Malley last week, and Jack was put on leave soon after that meeting.

Pabst agreed with her mother about the school’s decision. “I think it’s definitely for the best,” she said, adding that Gousse and O’Malley were sympathetic during the meeting. “They felt really embarrassed that it (the bullying and her perceived lack of response) happened.”

Pabst said she is doing better since the incident was made public, but added that she is not in school for the final two weeks of the school year at the suggestion of the school department. “They told me it would be for the best to take the last couple of weeks off,” she said.

Jack did not respond to an email seeking comment for this story.