In the spring, scandal engulfed a private all-girls boarding school in Pittsfield amid allegations that a longtime teacher had groomed and raped young women under his care. Matthew Rutledge, who worked at Miss Hall’s School since the early 90s, resigned in late March after the claims were brought to school officials and he was put on leave. Attorney Eric MacLeish represented one of the former students who said she suffered due to both Rutledge’s alleged predation and the inaction of school leadership.
“People are coming forward, but they're coming forward slowly," he told WAMC. "Some people are scared. Some people who are not victims have told us that there were other teachers involved apart from Rutledge who engaged in sexual misconduct with students, and there are just some who, for example, tried to alert the administration at Miss Hall’s about what Rutledge was doing, and how the school didn't respond. So, this is a really unfortunate situation where according to the information that we've gotten, there were complaints about Rutledge going way, way back. Nothing was done.”
Rutledge has declined to comment. WAMC aired an investigative report in May that underscored how pervasive staff relationships with students were at Miss Hall’s across the decades.
“We all knew, and the culture there was, if we all know, we assume someone on staff must also know," said Emily Adamcyk, who attended the school from 2003 to 2005. "And if someone on staff must know, then this must not be that big of a deal. And that kind of seems to be the culture that's been beating in the background for the last 20 years.”
In a chaotic year for the school where tuition for a boarding student can cost as much as $75,600, the Rutledge scandal and claims of staff misconduct led to dean of students Sarah Virden abruptly resigning in July.
In October, Berkshire District Attorney Timothy Shugrue announced his office was dropping its investigation into Rutledge as the students in question were at least 16, the legal age of consent in Massachusetts.
Other investigations and lawsuits around the allegations are ongoing.
The Berkshires were in the national news cycle this summer as Vice President Kamala Harris made her first appearance as the top of the Democratic presidential ticket at a fundraising event in Pittsfield on July 27th. Just days after President Joe Biden announced he would halt his faltering re-election bid, Harris spoke at the Colonial Theatre after appearances by James Taylor, Yo-Yo Ma, Emanuel Ax, and historian Heather Cox Richardson.
“It is we who are intent on lifting up the people of our nation," she said. "And ours is a fight for the future, and it is a fight for freedom. Generations of Americans before us led the fight for freedom, and now the baton is in our hands.”
The sold-out event saw supporters and critics of the VP fill downtown Pittsfield alongside phalanxes of police officers and Secret Service agents. Just up the street, protestors including Jez Laurin demonstrated against the Biden-Harris administration’s support for Israel’s bloody military campaign in Gaza.
“They're complicit in a genocide in Gaza, and we want people to know that and be aware of that as Harris is coming to campaign here," Laurin told WAMC. "We believe that Harris is complicit, that the whole Biden administration is complicit in the genocide in Gaza, and we wanted to protest for that and advocate for a ceasefire and end to the occupation in Gaza.”
The Harris campaign stop raised around $1.4 million for her failed presidential bid.
A rare and dramatic wildfire in Great Barrington was one of the biggest headlines of 2024. What was officially titled the Butternut Fire was first reported in East Mountain State Forest on November 18th, expanding to almost 1,700 acres by the time it was declared contained in early December. A multiagency response saw upwards of 400 personnel respond to the prolific blaze that covered sections of the county in thick smoke for days. While the fire is almost certainly human caused, no specific source has been identified yet.
“As some of us remember, 30 years ago or so, a tornado came through here, so there's a lot of ground slash and stuff that this fire is actually going to clean up," said Lee Fire Chief Ryan Brown, who delivered regular updates at the fire response field headquarters at the former Great Barrington Fairgrounds site. "And in the future, this will promote very healthy growth in this section of the forest. So, it's a natural thing. Unfortunately, it could potentially be encroaching on where we live, and that's our main goal, is to prevent that.”
Firefighters successfully erected firebreaks to protect properties from the fire, and by containment, no evacuation order was given, no property was damaged, and no significant injuries were recorded.
While the Berkshires avoided the worst from the fire, it left residents like Carolyn Stewart with a new sense of unease.
“I never thought I’d be in this situation. In the Berkshires, you feel pretty safe, you don't- All these natural disasters you are hearing about in other parts of the country, you just don't think it's going to happen here," she told WAMC. "But I don't think any of us are immune. It seems like a whole, entering a new era in that respect.”
The year ended with another school abuse scandal in Pittsfield, this time in the city’s flagship public high school. The arrest of dean of students Lavante Wiggins on federal charges of alleged large-scale cocaine trafficking this month kicked off a flurry of other misconduct claims directed at him and other administrators at Pittsfield High School. The situation remains unresolved as allegations multiply in a district in crisis.
Pittsfield public school teacher Jackie Ricci summed up the community’s dismay at a recent school committee meeting.
“Recently, shocking events have come to light," she said. "A dean of students accused of trafficking drugs and a vice principal alleged to have engaged in inappropriate relationships with students. These horrifying incidents are not isolated. Rumors persist about other staff following similar paths and as a parent and teacher, I am furious. An entire school community has been endangered by unqualified and improperly trained administrators. How did these individuals ever receive these roles without the necessary training and licensing?”
The Pittsfield school committee is holding a special meeting tonight to hire Springfield law firm Bulkley Richardson & Gelinas to investigate the situation.
