Vermont high court backs school board in Perrin dismissal

Court records say the board’s decision was based on findings that Perrin engaged in a long-running pattern of harassment, abuse and improper behavior toward the student

The Vermont Supreme Court has left in place the decision to dismiss former BUHS principal Steve Perrin, concluding that the Windham Southeast School District Board had enough evidence to fire him and that the process met constitutional standards.

In a ruling issued Oct. 2, the justices said they found no legal flaw in either the termination proceedings or the evidence-gathering process. The court also upheld a prior ruling by the Bennington Superior Court, Civil Division, which had already sided with the board in November 2025.

Perrin had worked at BUHS from 2011 until Nov. 14, 2022, when he was put on administrative leave during a broader district investigation into staff misconduct. The case began after a former student came forward with allegations that Perrin had mistreated her repeatedly and had tried to stop a required child-abuse report.

Court records say the board’s decision was based on findings that Perrin engaged in a long-running pattern of harassment, abuse and improper behavior toward the student, identified in the case as Jane Doe, from 2009 until her graduation in 2012. The conduct described in the ruling included repeated summonses to his office without a clear reason, making her wait outside as a form of humiliation, making remarks about her appearance and touching her hair. The court also said he told an employee not to file a suspected child-abuse report even though that person believed reporting was required.

The investigation also covered the handling of a sexual-assault complaint. According to the court, Perrin interviewed the student alone, did not inform her parents even though she asked for that, and threatened to contact police to say she had made a false report when she would not answer his questions.

Perrin challenged the firing by arguing that he was denied due process because the school board did not hand over the evidence before acting and because the inquiry was unfairly tilted against him. He also contended that the board could not fairly serve as both investigator and decision-maker.

His lawyer, Theodore Kramer, said the ruling was hard to accept and argued that school boards are rarely overturned on appeal because the Supreme Court gives them broad deference.

Jane Doe said the decision confirmed what she and others had already said about Perrin’s conduct. She said the harm did not happen in isolation, but inside a school over many years and in front of adults charged with protecting students. She added that real progress would require institutions to believe survivors and prevent similar abuse in the future.

Deborah Stanford, chairwoman of the School Board, did not immediately respond to a request from the Reformer. She told The Commons she could not discuss the ruling in detail but felt relieved to move past the case.