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Santa Cruz City Schools agrees to a 4.5 million settlement for two men sexually abused in the late 1980's
Santa Cruz City Schools (SCCS) has agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by the law firm of Cerri, Boskovich & Allard on behalf of two former students who alleged they were sexually abused from 1987-1991 by former SCCS teacher Steven Myers. The $4.5 million settlement allocates $2.25 million each to the 49-year-old men for abuse that occurred during their middle and high school years.
Before Myers was hired in 1981 as Principal at Branciforte Junior High in Santa Cruz, he taught at Crittenden Middle School in Mountain View. He founded and ran “The Traveling School Summer Program”, which was described as a “school on wheels.”
Once Myers was hired by SCCS, the Traveling School Summer Program became a pilot program and was later formally adopted as part of the District's school curriculum.
John Roe 3 attended Traveling School from 1988-1990, during which time he was allegedly sexually abused. John Roe 4 attended from 1988-1991, reporting sexual abuse throughout this period.
Statement from Roe 3: “The hope moving forward is that Steve Myers will never teach again and end up prosecuted to fullest extent of the law. As for Santa Cruz City Schools, this is a wakeup call to protect the children under their care. This lawsuit could have been easily avoided. Several young boys, now men could have had much different lives if Santa Cruz City Schools would have had safety measures and some oversight in place. I'm hopeful that the more of these cases coming to light will protect future children from abuse.”
Statement from Roe 4: “This abuse took away my ability to maintain healthy relationships and to set boundaries. When you’re told to keep a secret and that they’ll be dire consequences if you don’t, the result of keeping that secret for decades leads to drug and alcohol abuse to mask the anxiety and panic. That is what happened to me. The good news is that when secrets are told they lose their power; creating an opportunity for healing and closure.”
“These men were abused decades ago and have had to live with shame and guilt all this time,” attorney Lauren Cerri said. “The goal is that this will bring them a sense of closure and allow them to begin moving forward with a sense of validation.”
Traveling School was tailored towards students with behavioral and academic issues, many of whom came from broken homes.
Massage was part of the curriculum. Myers gave massages only to boys, mostly shirtless, and had kids massage him shirtless during class time.
On “Body Theme Day”, students were required to wear minimal clothing. On these days, Myers wore a tight speedo and required boys to do the same.
Throughout the case, Traveling School leaders testified that there were no rules or policies in place at the time and there was no training with respect to massage or the propriety of Myers sharing a room and/or bed with students on trips or time with students at his home outside school. Myers used the lack of oversight to sexually abuse the two students for more than three years. One of the leaders testified that no one from SCCS ever stepped foot on traveling school trips.
Attorney Lauren Cerri is also representing two former students from Crittenden Middle School who allege they were sexually abused by Myers in the 1970s while he was operating the Traveling School Summer Program there. That case is set for trial this summer.
Before Myers was hired in 1981 as Principal at Branciforte Junior High in Santa Cruz, he taught at Crittenden Middle School in Mountain View. He founded and ran “The Traveling School Summer Program”, which was described as a “school on wheels.”
Once Myers was hired by SCCS, the Traveling School Summer Program became a pilot program and was later formally adopted as part of the District's school curriculum.
John Roe 3 attended Traveling School from 1988-1990, during which time he was allegedly sexually abused. John Roe 4 attended from 1988-1991, reporting sexual abuse throughout this period.
Statement from Roe 3: “The hope moving forward is that Steve Myers will never teach again and end up prosecuted to fullest extent of the law. As for Santa Cruz City Schools, this is a wakeup call to protect the children under their care. This lawsuit could have been easily avoided. Several young boys, now men could have had much different lives if Santa Cruz City Schools would have had safety measures and some oversight in place. I'm hopeful that the more of these cases coming to light will protect future children from abuse.”
Statement from Roe 4: “This abuse took away my ability to maintain healthy relationships and to set boundaries. When you’re told to keep a secret and that they’ll be dire consequences if you don’t, the result of keeping that secret for decades leads to drug and alcohol abuse to mask the anxiety and panic. That is what happened to me. The good news is that when secrets are told they lose their power; creating an opportunity for healing and closure.”
“These men were abused decades ago and have had to live with shame and guilt all this time,” attorney Lauren Cerri said. “The goal is that this will bring them a sense of closure and allow them to begin moving forward with a sense of validation.”
Traveling School was tailored towards students with behavioral and academic issues, many of whom came from broken homes.
Massage was part of the curriculum. Myers gave massages only to boys, mostly shirtless, and had kids massage him shirtless during class time.
On “Body Theme Day”, students were required to wear minimal clothing. On these days, Myers wore a tight speedo and required boys to do the same.
Throughout the case, Traveling School leaders testified that there were no rules or policies in place at the time and there was no training with respect to massage or the propriety of Myers sharing a room and/or bed with students on trips or time with students at his home outside school. Myers used the lack of oversight to sexually abuse the two students for more than three years. One of the leaders testified that no one from SCCS ever stepped foot on traveling school trips.
Attorney Lauren Cerri is also representing two former students from Crittenden Middle School who allege they were sexually abused by Myers in the 1970s while he was operating the Traveling School Summer Program there. That case is set for trial this summer.
