WESTPORT — Some elements of reported anti-Semitic and racist insults hurled at the Staples football team and fans at a Friday football game in Cheshire are being called into question.

After a preliminary investigation of the allegations, which were widely circulated on social media late Friday and Saturday, Supt. of Schools Thomas Scarce on Sunday said that school and police officials found at least part of the incident appears to have been misinterpreted.

Cheshire Supt. Jeff Solan and Police Chief Neil Dryfe, according to Scarice, determined that an Israeli flag being waved in the crowd of Cheshire High School fans was not intended to intimidate Jewish people or motivated by anti-Semitism.

The students waving the Israeli flag are Jewish and told authorities they brought the flag to the game because it was a school spirit “Red, White & Blue Nite” in the Cheshire fans’ stands. 

Scarice said the probe so far — including a review of photos, video and interviews with numerous students, staff and police officers — failed to corroborate a report that a Confederate flag also was being waved by Cheshire fans.

Cheshire school and police also informed their Westport counterparts that when Staples cheerleaders saw the Israeli flag being waved by Cheshire fans — and complained to a Cheshire police officer at the game — the officer informed a Cheshire High administrator, Scarice said. That school official, in turn, told the students to put away the flag. 

That sequence of events was confirmed by video from the police officer’s body camera, Scarice added.

Scarice praised the Cheshire school administration and Police Department for cooperating with the investigation. They “have been  most collaborative and in constant communication with our administration and police department, sharing information and supporting each other’s investigation,” he wrote in his Sunday message.

“We are most grateful for this cooperation.”

However, Scarice also said the investigation is not over.

Westport school officials are “committed to finishing our investigation by speaking with every student or community member personally impacted by these events,” the superintendent said.

“We will listen to each first-person eyewitness account of these events and will reserve actions before concluding our investigation. Receiving this information from our Cheshire colleagues is helpful, yet we must fulfill our obligations to listen to each and every account.”

The investigation, which also has been joined by the Anti-Defamation League, continues “to gather facts from eyewitnesses, so please allow us the time needed to fully assess what occurred and determine the appropriate response,” Scarice added.

“Please contact us if you have relevant information,” he said, pledging to issue updates while the investigation continues.