Former Brattleboro Union High School principal Steve Perrin, who was fired by the school board last November, is suing the supervisory union and the school district’s board over his termination.
In the lawsuit filed March 21, which was first reported by The Commons, Perrin alleges the school board made him a “scapegoat … in light of vocal public pressure regarding accusations of inappropriate sexual behavior against a former teacher that had gone unheeded for years.” The high school has in recent years been investigating allegations of sexual misconduct by a former English teacher, though the status of that probe is unclear.
Perrin further argued in his lawsuit that his firing had not followed proper protocol.
The Windham Southeast School District board has not publicly given a reason for Perrin’s termination. But The Commons, a Windham County weekly newspaper, reported last October that a former student was considering a lawsuit claiming Perrin made unwanted advances a dozen years ago — and that Perrin had failed to report to police the student’s rape by a fellow student.
VTDigger could not independently verify the claims made in The Commons’ reporting.
Requesting a jury trial, Perrin alleges the board committed defamation, wrongful termination and denial of due process when it stripped him of his post. He is also asking the court to reverse his termination.
Perrin, who came to the school as a science teacher in 1995, was promoted to assistant principal in 2007 and to the principal’s job in 2010. He was placed on leave without public explanation in April 2022.
Perrin’s lawsuit takes issue with the way his termination was handled — specifically the board’s decisions not to inform Perrin of the allegations against him and to bar him from talking to anyone interviewed as part of its investigation.
The board also prevented Perrin and his attorney from examining under oath the attorney leading the investigation into the misconduct allegations and viewing a video of “his accuser being interviewed,” according to the suit.
One of the lawsuit’s exhibits is an email from Bob Stafford Jr., an investigations and emergency coordinating manager at the Vermont Agency of Education, showing that the state closed a separate investigation into Perrin without taking disciplinary action.
“Our office has reviewed the results of the investigation into these allegations and has determined that the investigation will be closed without taking action regarding your professional educator’s license,” Stafford wrote in the email, dated Jan. 5.
In his court filing, Perrin included letters of support written by former colleagues after the allegations against him came to light, including from two past superintendents — Ron Stahley and Lyle Holiday — who were Perrin’s supervisors.
Mark Speno, who became the supervisory union’s superintendent in 2021, did not respond to a request for comment on Friday afternoon.
The defendants have not yet filed any documents of their own, and no school board members responded to requests for comment. The civil suit was filed in Superior Court’s Windham Unit.