BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — The Buffalo Board of Education will vote to officially select an independent investigator to look into abuse claims, Wednesday, during a board meeting.
In a resolution to be voted on, the board appoints "Rupp Pfalzgraf LLC to serve as a special independent investigator, to conduct a fair, equitable and thorough investigation of the allegations raised on the podcast released on April 26, 2025, as well as any additional, related allegations that have come to light since the April 26, 2025 podcast."
WATCH: How much will this independent investigator cost taxpayers?
"The Buffalo school system has been intentionally not reporting the assaults of students, sexual assaults between students and then has also used, the Buffalo Police Department school resource officers to write reports and then had their influence over those officers," Buffalo police detective Richard Hy said on the Unsubscribe Podcast in April. He previously spoke with 7 News about why he decided to go public with his allegations. You can read more here.
The Buffalo Board of Education held a special meeting on April 28 and responded to the allegations, saying it was initiating an independent external investigation.
In May, the board held another special meeting and met privately in executive session for four hours. Members were initially set to vote on hiring an independent investigator, but instead, they delayed it, opting to expand the search.
7 News took a closer look at two cases that Hy highlighted in the original podcast. You can read more here.
Hy has since appeared in more national podcasts, slamming the school district for not responding quickly to his original allegations. He appeared again on the Unsubscribe Podcast and also appeared on the Black Rifle Coffee Podcast, where he made another new allegation specifically targeting teachers. You can read more here.
Rupp Pfalzgraf LLC is being paid $295/hour with an estimated total cost of $52,500.
The school board is expected to vote on this firm, as the independent investigator, at Wednesday's board meeting.
