Our previous post covered former Brighton teacher and coach Duncan Ververs’ damning deposition testimony, in which he invoked the Fifth Amendment in response to all questions about his abuse of minor gymnastics students. Now we will explain how Ververs’ tenure came to an abrupt end in Brighton — and how, throughout this process, the district prioritized its own image over the safety and well-being of children.
In the year 2000, multiple female BHS students reported that Ververs was sexually harassing them, engaging in lewd touching, innuendoes, and other misconduct. Aided by attorney Laura Purcell, the district privately investigated these harassment claims and found them to be credible. Around the same time, Purcell investigated claims that Ververs had sexually abused teenaged gymnastics students in the past, and she found these claims to be credible as well.
Dr. Henry Peris, BCSD’s superintendent at the time, had a scandal of potentially titanic proportions on his hands. Seemingly wanting to resolve the matter with as little damage to Brighton’s reputation as possible, district representatives drafted a confidential settlement agreement to manage Duncan Ververs' departure. The agreement, signed by both Peris and Ververs, can be seen in Ververs’ archived personnel file.
This agreement attempts to silence not only survivors of harassment and abuse, but anyone involved in the Ververs investigation. It states that, following Ververs’ resignation “for purposes of retirement,” the Brighton Board of Education “will accept Mr. Ververs' resignation at its regular meeting on February 13, 2001.” The agreement further states that the district “will request the participants involved in the investigation of this matter to refrain from speaking publicly about this matter,” and that the district “will not release this Settlement Agreement document except as required by law.”
The Ververs settlement betrayed the district’s supposed dedication to the well-being of children and families. It sought to conceal the ugly truth that Peris and Brighton officials were coming to terms with: Thousands of Brighton students had been exposed to a child sexual predator for the better part of thirty years. In failing to disclose this to the community, the district prevented residents and families from taking needed protective measures against Ververs and other predators. To add insult to injury, the district has rewarded Ververs with retirement benefits and "PTSA Honorary Life Membership."
As best we can determine from contemporaneous sources, the Brighton Board of Education at the time of Ververs’ stage-managed “retirement” was as follows. Please alert us if you know of other members:
Thomas Brigham
Alan Lewis
Bruce Gianniny
Molly Panner
Marvin Sachs
Jill Vigdor Feldman