SPS2020 Society Response to Maher Resignation

STATEMENT FROM SPS 2020 SOCIETY RE:  RESIGNATION OF JEFFREY MAHER AS INDEPENDENT COMPLIANCE OFFICER

October 27, 2020

Contact: sps2020society@gmail.com

The SPS 2020​​ Society​ was formed this summer by a group of SPS alumni in response to the publication of Lacy Crawford's book ​Notes on a Silencing​ and the nation-wide Black Lives Matter demonstrations in response to George Floyd's death. Our mission is to empower current and former students of St. Paul's to make their school and the world around them a better place.

We feel compelled to respond to the letter sent out last week from Rector Giles and Board President Archie Cox regarding the resignation of compliance officer Jeff Maher. We are deeply saddened to learn of his resignation and the administration's subsequent maligning of him.

Although the 2020 Society is only two months old, we had various interactions with Jeff Maher both individually and as a group and found him to be principled and boundaried. His goal was always to have a good working relationship with the school so that he could best perform the duties of his job. He knew that without this mutual respect and trust he would be unable to accomplish the most important work of keeping children safe. That was paramount to him.

There was an instance where we, as a group, wanted answers as to why the school still did not have the advocate from the Central Crisis Center of New Hampshire (CCCNH) on the grounds as stipulated in the AG agreement. The administration had been mounting various roadblocks and it seemed to us that they were in breach of the settlement. Jeff tried, as best he could, to give them the benefit of the doubt, while diplomatically pushing forward to ensure the advocate was indeed welcomed on campus.Unfortunately, this advocate is still not on campus.

That's why it was so surprising to hear of his resignation. We can only assume that this man that we know to be thoughtful, measured and diplomatic, this man who was assigned to keep the school from criminal charges, was pushed to the point where he could no longer give the school the benefit of the doubt. For someone like Jeff, we know, that must've been an enormous push.

The school expressed confusion by his change in reporting from June of this year. But they know, as we do, that much has changed since then. Lacy Crawford's memoir was published July 9th. In the wake of this, numerous survivors have come forward. Some people have brought allegations against current members of school leadership. As Jeff learned more, he began asking more difficult questions.He was stonewalled and treated with suspicion for trying to bring full transparency to the school's internal"investigations" and the reports and decision-making that followed.

We can no longer allow it to remain unaddressed that the school has maligned the work of a transparent,victim-centered, experienced, educated professional who was working to help St. Paul's evolve into a safe and moral institution.