THE ALTAMONT SCHOOL

Birmingham University School 1921-1975  Brooke Hill School for Girls 1941-1975  The Altamont School 1975

October 26, 2018

To The Altamont School Community,

On March 8, 2018, we wrote to you that certain courageous alumnae had recently made
allegations of employee misconduct from more than twenty-five years ago and had expressed
concerns about the school’s response at the time. This letter was sent to over 4,300 email and/or
physical addresses for members of our current and alumni community. In that letter, we
committed to the Altamont Community to fully investigate these allegations and, further, that
Altamont will be a model for best practices in a culture where students and employees alike feel
safe and respected.
We begin this letter by expressing our sincere admiration and respect for the alumnae who first
contacted our school and for all of those who shared their painful experiences through the process
of this investigation. At the same time, we respect the decision of any former student who has
chosen not to speak and want you to know that the door remains open.
On behalf of the School, we apologize to everyone who was affected by these events, for the
School’s failures during that time, for what the survivors have experienced, and for not having
addressed these matters in the past. We acknowledge that our school should have been a place
of safety and respect for all students.
For the past six months, we have been working to address this situation in keeping with our
commitment. Our work began with the appointment of a taskforce whose mandate was to ensure
that the School conducted a thorough investigation, reviewed our school’s existing culture,
training, policies and practices, and made recommendations to the Board on best practices in
student safety and well-being.
The Board then retained Praesidium, a firm that has worked for 20 years to help schools and
other organizations identify, investigate, and address sexual abuse, to conduct an external
investigation. We invited anyone with relevant information to directly contact Praesidium or Board
Vice President Liz Edwards.
To guide our School through this process, the Board also retained Fisher Phillips attorney
Suzanne Bogdan, a nationally-recognized expert in addressing sexual misconduct at educational
institutions.
In our letter of April 2018, we confirmed that more than a dozen individuals had reached out to
Praesidium to share their experience at our School and indicated that we had made resources
available to survivors of employee sexual misconduct.

4801 Altamont Road South  Birmingham, Alabama 35222  www.altamontschool.org

TELEPHONE: 205.879.2006 FACSIMILE: 205.871.5666
We know that our School is not alone in addressing past sexual misconduct. Indeed, the number
of schools facing these issues has prompted a national conversation about sexual misconduct
and the importance of keeping children and adolescents safe. The National Association of
Independent Schools and The Association of Boarding Schools (NAIS/TABS) recently issued a
report detailing best practices that schools can follow in addressing these important issues. Our
School adopted many of the report’s recommendations after consulting with NAIS about our
specific situation. Our Board and administration will continue to take guidance from the
NAIS/TABS report, outside experts, and other independent schools in considering what more we
can do to safeguard our students.
Praesidium has now completed its investigation and shared its findings with the Board. The
purpose of our letter is to summarize key findings from the investigation, inform about our School’s
current child protection practices and training, and based on what we have learned, advise how
we are moving forward to further increase awareness and strengthen our existing child protection
programs.
The Investigation Process
Praesidium’s investigation began in March 2018 and ended this September. During this six-
month investigation, Praesidium conducted a total of 35 interviews, with some individuals being
interviewed more than once. Those participating in the investigation were survivors, former
students, current and former employees, and trustees. The investigators had unfettered access
to the School’s records, and the Board placed no constraints on the investigation.
During the course of the investigation, the investigators received first-hand reports from witnesses
with direct personal observation or experience, as well as second-hand reports generated from
indirect sources. The investigation was conducted following established processes and
standards. In making findings, factors used by the investigators included assessing the credibility
of witnesses, the overall quality and specificity of the evidence, and whether allegations were
corroborated by another credible individual or document. The investigators also took into
consideration that the allegations were from events that occurred over 25 years ago, thus
recognizing that the recollections of some individuals may not be clear today.
Reports of misconduct included boundary-crossing activity, inappropriate dating relationships
between employees and students, sexually abusive interactions, unwanted attention, unwanted
touching, and sexual intercourse. Given the ages of some students, some of the behavior may
have constituted criminal conduct.
The investigators interviewed everyone who came forward to share their experiences and
reached out to other potential witnesses as more information became available. The investigators
are aware that some in the community believe that there are more survivors than those
Praesidium has identified. However, this difference likely results from the fact that, in keeping
with customary practices, the investigators did not reach out to potential victims who did not
contact either Praesidium or Liz Edwards. Praesidium and the taskforce believe that such
individuals were entitled to make their own decision about whether to participate in the School’s
investigation. In addition, Praesidium respected the wishes of anyone who chose not to
participate in the investigation or declined to respond to inquiries. Reports by individuals about
other survivors may be included in Praesidium’s numbers as second-hand reports. Of course, in
the event additional reports are made in the future, they will be addressed under Altamont’s
policies.

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As we are aware, the recent national conversation about sexual misconduct has created a much
better understanding of how sexual misconduct happens and how it impacts students across their
lives. We recognize that not all students, whether survivors or observers, were in a position at
the time to recognize what happened as sexual misconduct or to know what to do to prevent,
avoid or report it. Likewise, there is a much greater awareness of the many complex reasons
survivors and witnesses often did not report misconduct until much later, if at all. These reasons
vary and include fear of reprisal or blame if a student came forward to make a report, as well as
feelings of fault, shame or guilt. We trust that the robust training we have implemented for the
entire Altamont community, as discussed below, will not only prevent future misconduct but also
establishes a safe environment for everyone to talk about any concerns they have. Our
employees today are vigilant in watching for lapses in professional boundaries between adults
and students, understand their obligation to immediately report misconduct, and know that any
report of misconduct will be taken very seriously, with student safety being the paramount
consideration.
From the investigation, we also learned that several years after the misconduct ceased, some
survivors and/or their supporters came forward about employee misconduct and did not receive
the response they should have. We deeply regret that more proactive steps were not taken at that
time and apologize to any survivor or supporter who experienced this. We hope that the
thoroughness of the current investigation and proactive measures to educate about the School’s
position on boundary-crossing behavior and sexual abuse provides some measure of comfort to
the survivors.
The Board had extensive deliberations about whether to identify by name former employees
where Praesidium made a finding that sexual misconduct had occurred. After careful
consideration, the Board decided not to name former employees. The primary reason is that
doing so could subject the survivors to unwanted scrutiny and possible involuntary participation
in legal proceedings brought by those who may disagree with this investigation’s findings.
Finally, we recognize this investigation may not have revealed all instances of misconduct.
Anyone with information now or in the future about inappropriate conduct may contact us directly
on Altamont’s dedicated line at (205) 445-1250 or reach out to Praesidium at (877) 415-6423. In
sharing this letter with our community, we want to emphasize that our work is not finished.
Altamont has committed to a policy of continuous improvement as our efforts to strengthen our
policies, procedures, and training regarding the emotional and physical wellbeing of our students
is and will remain an ongoing process.
Summary of key findings
As a result of the investigation, Praesidium made the following findings relating to sexual
misconduct by former employees:
There were first-hand reports made by ten survivors concerning former employee sexual
misconduct.
• One former employee who worked in athletics was alleged to have engaged in sexual
misconduct in the 1980 to 1985 timeframe (three first-hand reporters and four second-hand
reporters). The misconduct included dating students, sexual relationships with students and
boundary-crossing behavior involving inappropriate comments. Some of the reports may

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describe occurrences that constituted potential criminal conduct given the ages of some of the
survivors.
• A second former employee who was a teacher/administrator/counselor was alleged to
have engaged in sexual misconduct in the 1980 to 1992 timeframe (four first-hand and two
second-hand reporters). The misconduct involved sexual relationships, touching, kissing,
unwelcome advances, inappropriate comments, and giving students alcohol. Reports of
interactions with one of the students may describe criminal conduct given her age.
• A third former employee who worked in athletics was alleged to have kissed a student in
the 1979 timeframe (one first-hand reporter). This same reporter alleged (as a second-hand
report) that this former employee sexually assaulted another student in the 1978 or 1979
timeframe.
• A fourth former employee who was an administrator was alleged to have sexually
assaulted a student in the 1970 timeframe at Birmingham University School (the predecessor
boys’ school to Altamont). This was based on a first-hand report.
• A fifth former employee who worked in athletics was alleged to have engaged in kissing
and fondling of a student for a period of approximately two years in the 1981 to 1983 timeframe
(one first-hand reporter).
• There were additional second-hand reports about inappropriate behavior by three other
former employees in the 1980s, alleging misconduct ranging from boundary crossings to sexual
misconduct. The investigators were unable to make any specific findings on these concerns due
to a lack of corroborating evidence.
• None of the former employees against whom findings have been made are currently
employed by the school, nor is there any evidence that Altamont provided recommendations to
other schools after these employees left Altamont.
• Two former employees were interviewed and denied all allegations of sexual misconduct.
The others either did not cooperate or were unable to be located.
• There were no reports about any inappropriate conduct by any employee after the early
1990s.
• No current employees are the subject of any allegations from this investigation.
The investigation also addressed whether employees or School administrators knew of
allegations of contemporaneous employee misconduct. There were unverified reports that three
former administrators were made aware of alleged sexual misconduct at or about the time of its
occurrence in the late 1970 to mid-1980s timeframe. In addition, according to the individuals
interviewed, they believed some of the boundary-crossing behavior was visible and should have
should have raised red flags to teachers, coaches, and administrators.
Praesidium received three first-hand reports of survivors or their supporters telling a former senior
administrator in the 1970s and 1990s about past employee misconduct. Those individuals told
the administrator that three of the above perpetrators either engaged in misconduct or did not
appropriately address a report of misconduct. Unfortunately, the administrator in question is
deceased, resulting in our inability to verify that these reports were made. Regrettably, there is

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no evidence that the School offered support to the victims, further investigated the allegations, or
reported the allegations to governmental authorities.
In addition, during the course of this investigation, concerns were raised that some current and
former trustees of the School were previously aware of historical sexual misconduct by employees
from the 1980s. The Board took this very seriously and consulted with Suzanne Bogdan of Fisher
Phillips regarding the appropriate method for addressing this matter. Ms. Bogdan conducted a
thorough and painstaking investigation of each allegation. The Board reviewed each situation and
found that, in some cases, the trustee did make an attempt to bring allegations of historical sex
abuse to light, although in the absence of clear procedures on how to handle issues from 20 years
ago, no formal reports were made. In other cases, trustees were alleged to have been aware of
misconduct when they themselves were minors or the allegations were not able to be
corroborated.
To remove even the appearance of impropriety or conflict of interest, all trustees alleged to have
knowledge of prior employee sexual misconduct have been excused from the Board’s
involvement with Praesidium’s investigation and the drafting or approval of this report. Like other
stakeholders in the community, trustees were encouraged to come forward with any relevant
information. In addition, the Board has implemented a new procedure asking that all current and
future trustees provide information regarding any knowledge of current or prior sexual misconduct
by adults within the Altamont community.
Although the obligation to report child abuse is clear today, schools in the 1980s and early 1990s
often did not report abuse, preferring instead to address such issues internally with the student’s
parents. It became clear during the course of this investigation that even though at least one
administrator received a report of abuse several years after the abuse occurred and when the
former student was an adult, no investigation was initiated or report made to law enforcement at
that time. Our School has now contacted the Jefferson County Department of Human Resources
as well as the Birmingham Police Department to pass on what we have learned from this
investigation and identify former employees about whom reports were made.
We will continue to offer counseling services through outside providers for those survivors who
have been harmed by employee misconduct while they were students at our School. Our door
remains open for survivors wishing to meet with trustees or our current Head of School so that
we can better understand their experience, support them in their healing process, and learn as
much as we can from our past mistakes.
Our School Today
Altamont’s current school culture is defined as much by an emphasis on student well-being as it
is by academic excellence. Our employees view fostering students’ social and emotional health
as a vital and daily component of our work. A series of programs offer students avenues for peer-
to-peer dialogue, understanding, and support, while our employees participate in professional
development programs, working groups, and regularly scheduled meetings to ensure that they
are in tune with every student’s needs.
Following best practices to prevent sexual misconduct is a key aspect of the School’s commitment
to its students. Our employees are saddened by the aspects of our School’s history outlined in
this letter and are steadfast in the commitment to prevent such abuses from occurring again. As
we have worked to improve our programs, we have sought national expertise and listened to

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members of our own community. School employees have been tireless in their commitment to
ensure best practices are in place and followed. While we have had policies, procedures and
training in place, we are taking the following additional steps:

• We have updated our child abuse reporting policy and have distributed it to all employees.

• We are in the process of communicating to both employees and students the methods of
internally reporting concerns with boundary-crossing activity or sexual misconduct by any
adult. The process should be complete by December 15, 2018. One method of reporting
involves the ability to make anonymous reports directly to Praesidium or through the
hotline that is monitored by Praesidium. Employees also may call a school hotline that
will be monitored by Human Resources.

• We have begun a series of new programs for students to ensure the emotional and
physical wellness of current students. Within our Character Education Program, and
among other components of character education, students will receive knowledge,
training, guidance and support about the signs of sexual misconduct and the impact it can
have on individuals and their families. Our first program involving sexual misconduct and
inappropriate student/teacher relationships will occur this January.

• We have engaged in substantial training of our employees on the concepts of sexual

misconduct, student-adult boundaries, sexual harassment, inappropriate grooming of
students by adults, and employee obligations as mandatory reporters to report child
abuse, including sexual abuse. We will annually revisit this training and any new
information regarding sexual misconduct with our employees as a part of beginning of
school pre-planning activities.

• We have thoroughly reviewed and updated the student handbook. The new handbook
has been published on our website. We are in the process of reviewing and releasing an
updated employee handbook in the coming weeks. Language about sexual misconduct
(whether student-on-student or adult-student), including recognition of misconduct,
reporting mechanisms and requirements, and general behavioral warning signs of
student-adult boundary violations is listed under the Safety Section of the student
handbook. We have made clear that any form of sexual misconduct or boundary-crossing
behavior is prohibited, should be reported, and will be taken seriously.

• We are assessing and ensuring that we are implementing best practices in employee
recruitment. Our current procedures, which include comprehensive fingerprint and
criminal background checks, reference checks, and interviews of candidates, will be
reviewed to ensure that we are discovering as much information about an individual’s
background as possible before we entrust them with children.

• In addition, the Altamont Board of Trustees has implemented guidelines for trustees
regarding reporting suspected sexual misconduct. This fall (and annually thereafter), each
Board member will undergo training on issues relating to child protection, student-adult
boundaries, sexual harassment of employees, and reporting any type of child abuse,
including sexual abuse.

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Conclusion
Upon receiving these allegations, we sought to investigate our past, support anyone harmed at
our School, and learn what we could in order to prevent sexual misconduct from ever happening
again in the Altamont community. We appreciate the many hours invested in this work by our
employees, members of the taskforce, and trustees, all of whom want to make sure Altamont’s
response is serious and thorough.
Words matter, but actions matter more. Our conduct as a School must align with our core values
and our School’s mission, embodied by “Truth Knowledge Honor.” Facing our past is very difficult.
While we cannot undo what has happened, we are moving forward to adopt best practices to
keep our students safe in a culture of mutual respect. We also will continue to work with any
survivors and assist them in their healing process. The emotional and physical well-being of all
our students, past and present, is paramount.
If you have questions or feedback about our ongoing efforts to continue to strengthen our safety
and wellness at Altamont please contact the Office of the Head of School, and we'll be happy to
discuss this with you.

Christopher Durst, Michael S. Denniston,

Head of School President of the Board