November 1, 2024  

Good Evening.  

Tonight the Board of Education approved settlement agreements with all seven plaintiffs in our  Child Victims Act cases. While confidentiality clauses prohibit the district and the plaintiffs from discussing specifics of any individual case, we can inform you that the aggregate sum of these  settlement agreements is $16.5 million. The total sum will be paid through a combination of debt financing and monies from existing district reserve funds, mitigating the overall financial impact  on the community. Unfortunately, we have not been able to secure any insurance coverage to date for these claims.  

We believe resolution of these cases represents the best outcome for the district and avoids  possible greater impact to our students and taxpayers. The board's decision to accept these  settlement agreements, made on the advice of counsel and after lengthy deliberations and  discussion, eliminated the potential of protracted trial litigation which involves inherent risk and  could have resulted in significantly greater overall costs to the district.  

The district is committed to the safety and well-being of our students. We take our responsibility  very seriously to provide our students with a learning environment that is nurturing and free of  any form of harassment whatsoever. It is important to note that these claims were for incidents  that occurred forty-five or more years ago. However, we understand that we must remain vigilant  and continue our training of all staff in the recognition of and reporting of any signs of abuse or  sexual harassment.  

We thank you for your understanding during this process and continued support of our students  and the Port Jefferson School District.