Outgoing South Hadley schools superintendent Gus Sayer hopes to be remembered for accomplishments, not just Phoebe Prince tragedy
Published: Jan. 30, 2012, 10:36 p.m.
SOUTH HADLEY – Gus A. Sayer concludes a nearly two-hour interview with a run-down of his achievements as School Superintendent in South Hadley…
Excerpt from the article:
But his biggest crisis unfolded in 2002, when a group of parents accused high school principal Stephen H. Myers of sexual misconduct. The firestorm began with reports that Myers had asked a 15-year-old male student to show him his nipples.
Although Myers resigned within a month, other reports continued to surface, indicated that Myers had been investigated in other states for molesting children. Meanwhile, the Massachusetts Department of Social Services took Myers' 8-year-old adopted son from his custody.
Although Amherst had taken the extraordinary step of making a site visit to Myers' previous school in Colorado during the vetting process, they learned nothing negative about the candidate. Sayer, nonetheless, came under fire for his appointment.
"People lied to us," he said. "It was one of the great disappointments in my career."
Although some people, after the fact, insisted the schools should have done a criminal offender check on Myers, Sayer noted that it would have been fruitless because he had no criminal record.
Still, Sayer said he had misgivings about Myers almost from the beginning. A few months before the nipple story became public, he talked to the principal about reports that he spent a lot of time behind closed doors with male students.
"I ordered him to change his behavior," Sayer said. "Then the whole thing blew up."
Even when Myers came under fire, he had supporters. Sayer said many parents liked the charismatic principal and his students-first focus.
"There were people who backed him to the end," he said.
The controversy took a toll on Sayer, who had undergone heart surgery in 2000, and he stepped down from the superintendent's post in 2003.