‘Nationwide Search’ Was Flawed

Supt. Gus Sayer says, “The irony is that we did do a very thorough background check of Myers.”

But the real irony is that within a few days after the story broke, the Amherst police did a search and discovered most of what the citizens now know about their former principal.

Sayer, however, is not apologetic. “We spoke to more than 40 references that spanned beyond 20 years,” he says. “I’m sorry that we didn’t know, but we didn’t. I don’t know we could have.”

The Amherst police were able to find two women who quit their jobs only two years ago rather than continue to work with the principal. They weren’t alone. Nearly a third of the staff quit during the principal’s first year at the California school.

One says two gay male students claimed the principal had asked one to remove his shirt. “They had just been in his office, and they told me that Steve [the principal] was asking them questions about how and why they lost their virginity. During that conversation, one of the boys told Steve that he felt that he was sort of scrawny and that’s when Steve asked him to take off his shirt so he could see.”