Private school, ex-teacher settle lawsuits
Saint Andrew’s School faced unsettling allegations of ‘inappropriate relationships’
On a campus prized for academic excellence and a warm atmosphere, the allegations at Saint Andrew’s School in Boca Raton were unsettling.
Concerns emerged in 2016 about teacher-student sleepovers, a teacher’s trip to the beach with a student after midnight, and what has been described as a teacher’s “private embrace” with a student.
These claims of “inappropriate relationships” led to administrator departures, staff turnover, negative headlines and ultimately a wave of lawsuits. But this volatile period in the school’s long history will not be revisited inside a civil courtroom. The key remaining litigation was resolved this month in a confidential settlement, canceling a planned March trial.
The case involved a defamation claim by former music teacher Christopher Waite against the Episcopal school and its former board of trustees chairwoman.
The school also brought a countersuit for breach of contract against the 44-year-old fine arts instructor, who had served for a time as a boys’ “dorm parent.”
Carlos Barroso, spokesman for the school and its attorneys, told the South Florida Sun Sentinel: “Mr. Waite’s lawsuit has been resolved on terms acceptable to Saint Andrew’s.”
Lindsey Wagner, attorney for Waite, declined to comment other than to say all of the litigation in Palm Beach County Circuit Court was over.
The competing claims emerged in the aftermath of a 2016 schoolcommissioned investigative report, regarding allegations that students were endangered by an unnamed teacher who had lived alongside residential students.
Waite, who quit in late 2015, said he was the target of the 13-page report and false allegations that ruined his career as an educator.
The investigation concluded there was no evidence of any sexual abuse of students. And no criminal charges were filed, or any action taken by state child protective agency overseers, records show.
Still, the findings knocked school administrators for failing to report the allegations to authorities, and not protecting students who were allegedly “at risk” for an extended time.
After the much-publicized report, several top administrators, including the headmaster, and other faculty members departed. The school then introduced mandatory child-abuse annual training for all employees, among other reforms.
“They horrifically misrepresented my time at Saint Andrew’s,” Waite said in a 2017 interview after filing his lawsuit. “I did not do anything to endanger any student whatsoever.”