Editor’s note: This commentary is by Ron Krupp, of South Burlington, who is the author of “The Woodchuck’s Guide to Gardening” and “The Woodchuck Returns to Gardening.” and is working on his third Vermont garden book called, “The Woodchuck’s Guide to Landscape Plants and Ornamentals.”
In the early 1970s, I had a small fruit and vegetable farm on Hartley Hill Road about a mile from the Kurn Hattin School for Girls in Saxtons River. On Sunday evenings, my lab-setter cross, Bonzo, would trot off down the gravel road to visit the girls at Kurn Hattin. Later on, I would venture down to the school to pick him up. Bonzo would be sitting in the middle of the girls eating hot dogs. Now and then, they would walk up Hartley Hill to greet us at the farm.
I was shocked when I read about the possible physical, mental and sexual abuse suffered by the kids at Kurn Hattin Schools. I first read about the incidents in VTDigger and in the Brattleboro Reformer. VTDigger has requested more records. Documents, social media posts and interviews with victims detail how more than 60 children who came from disadvantaged homes were allegedly assaulted from the 1940s through 2019. Similar patterns of abuse were covered up for decades, victims say.
Young children as young as 7 have said they were molested by Kurn Hattin caregivers, administrators or peers. An investigative report from the Vermont Department for Children and Families from 2019 describes a “touching club,” in which at least nine boys who were residents of Kurn Hattin “had been engaging in sexualized activity with each other.”
I wonder why it was never exposed in the news media until now? Did anyone in Saxtons River or Westminster West and the surrounding communities ever report on what occurred at Kurn Hattin? And if so, why was it kept under the radar? Why didn’t the staff report the incidents? Why wasn’t it mentioned at the local post office or general store where gossip is shared? How does a community hide the truth? Why didn’t I know and why would I?
After receiving reports of recent sexual abuse at the school, Sean Brown, the commissioner of the Vermont Department for Children and Families, launched an investigation into Kurn Hattin. In September, Kurn Hattin voluntarily surrendered its license to provide residential treatment to children. (Years earlier, the girl’s school closed in Saxtons River.) Brown noted the loss of the license doesn’t mean Kurn Hattin is closing, just that it is no longer licensed with the state to provide residential treatment to children. e said, “It can only operate as a private boarding school.” Kurn Hattin has a population of about 100 residents.
In the early 1980s, I worked with the homeless population in Burlington as part of the Streetwork Project of the Committee on Temporary Shelter (COTS). One winter, we received hundreds of winter coats, gloves and caps. Our small office on North Street couldn’t handle all the winter wear — so we moved them over to the basement of the closed Catholic orphanage on North Avenue. I can remember walking through those empty, gray halls and having an eerie feeling knowing how many children had been abused in that cavernous building. It took years to expose the harm that had come to the young male residents. If it wasn’t for them — now men — who testified against the Catholic Church, no charges would have been brought. You could say the same for the men and women who testified against Kurn Hattin. A full inquiry needs to take place immediately.
