Babylon Schools Failed To Address Sexual Misconduct For Decades: AG

BABYLON, NY — The Babylon Union Free School District repeatedly failed to address allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct by educators for decades, creating an environment where inappropriate behavior became normalized and students feared speaking out, according to findings from a nearly five-year investigation by the New York Attorney General's Office.

The investigation found that district administrators repeatedly ignored or inadequately responded to reports of sexual misconduct involving teachers and other educators, allowing the behavior to continue and exposing additional students to potential harm.

In a three-page letter to the Babylon community, the office of Attorney General Letitia James concluded that the district failed to comply with federal and state laws designed to protect students from discrimination and harassment.

Investigators determined that the district's institutional failures "created an environment in the Junior-Senior High School in which educator misconduct proliferated with impunity."

The findings followed nearly 100 interviews and a review of thousands of pages of documents examining allegations spanning several decades.

"By not holding individual educators accountable and failing to broadly communicate zero tolerance for educator misconduct, the District created a heightened risk that those educators would continue to engage in misconduct—which they did," the Attorney General's Office wrote.

The letter, signed by First Deputy Attorney General Meghan Faux, also concluded that the district's failures encouraged additional misconduct by other educators who observed that inappropriate behavior could occur without consequences.

In a statement released Wednesday, Babylon Superintendent Carisa Manza condemned the misconduct described by former students and defended the district's work to strengthen student protections.

"That conduct is despicable, and it has no place in any school," Manza said.

Manza said the district, under a new administration and Board of Education, has spent the past five years working to establish a school culture that prioritizes student safety.

According to Manza, the district's efforts have included revising policies governing relationships between adults and students, partnering with the Crime Victims Center to provide training to employees and students, establishing anonymous reporting procedures and creating a Citizens Advisory Committee.

The district also arranged weekly visits to the junior-senior high school through its partnership with the Crime Victims Center, according to the superintendent.

Manza said administrators underwent extensive Title IX training, and the district hired a full-time executive director of human resources who also serves as a Title IX and Dignity Act coordinator.

The district also retained an external monitor to review compliance with Title IX and the Dignity for All Students Act and help identify best practices, she said.

The Attorney General's Office announced its civil rights investigation on Nov. 23, 2021, following the removal of an educator from the classroom after a number of female students reported experiencing sexual harassment.

Those allegations prompted numerous former students and parents to publicly share their experiences involving sexual harassment, grooming and misconduct by other current and former district educators.

In October 2021, Babylon High School alumni told Patch that allegations involving a teacher had been an "open secret" for years. Former students described a culture in which they believed inappropriate relationships and behavior involving certain educators were widely known but not adequately addressed.

The allegations sparked widespread outrage throughout the community.

In November 2021, hundreds of Babylon students walked out of their classrooms in protest, a day after a contentious Board of Education meeting where former students publicly recounted allegations of abuse and parents demanded action against accused educators.

During that meeting, parents refused to leave until the district addressed their concerns. The board subsequently announced that teachers publicly named in the allegations would be reassigned to their homes pending an investigation.

The former students and their families called on district leadership to confront what they described as longstanding institutional failures that had allowed inappropriate conduct to persist.

According to the Attorney General's Office, investigators identified numerous instances over several decades in which administrators received information indicating sexual harassment or misconduct by educators but repeatedly failed to take adequate action, if they responded at all.

Investigators also determined that the district lacked sufficient centralized oversight, appropriate policies and procedures, and adequately trained staff to ensure compliance with federal and state laws governing discrimination and harassment.

Those failures contributed to an environment in which educator misconduct was tolerated, according to the letter.

The Attorney General's Office found that inappropriate behavior had become so commonplace that students and staff came to view it as a normal part of the school environment.

Many students who recognized misconduct believed reporting it would accomplish little because of the district's history of inaction, investigators said.

Some students who did report their experiences faced continued harassment and retaliation.

Rather than relying on district administrators to address concerns, generations of students and parents developed an informal network to warn one another about educators whose behavior raised concerns.

"Instead of reporting, generations of parents and students resorted to a whisper network of warnings about certain educators," the letter states.

Parents sought to remove their children from certain teachers' classrooms, while students attempted to avoid educators they believed might engage in inappropriate behavior.

The Attorney General's Office found that students came to view the possibility of sexual harassment as an uncomfortable but unavoidable part of attending school.

The investigation also documented the lasting effects that alleged misconduct and the district's response had on former students.

According to investigators, former students described experiencing deep and lasting anxiety, confusion, shame and emotional distress following encounters with educators who crossed appropriate boundaries.

Some lost trust in teachers and administrators who were supposed to protect them, while others withdrew from academics or stopped participating in sports they previously enjoyed.

Investigators found that the students' feelings of betrayal extended beyond the educators accused of misconduct to other school employees and district leaders whom they believed had disregarded or tolerated the behavior.

Those feelings resurfaced in fall 2021, when former students publicly shared their experiences in hopes of prompting changes within the district.

However, some of those former students described the district's response at the time as dismissive, discouraging and hostile, according to the Attorney General's Office.

The investigation concluded that the district failed to meet its legal responsibilities under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, New York's Dignity for All Students Act and the New York State Human Rights Law.

The laws prohibit discrimination and harassment in educational settings and require school districts to appropriately respond when they become aware of such conduct.

The Attorney General's Office determined that Babylon had failed to fulfill those obligations for decades.

Although district leadership has publicly acknowledged the need to address past misconduct, investigators said the district has not implemented all the reforms necessary to prevent similar failures in the future.

The letter referenced previous statements from district officials acknowledging the seriousness of the allegations.

In January 2023, the district announced it was pursuing disciplinary proceedings against two tenured teachers who had been accused of sexual abuse by former and current students in 2021.

At the time, then-interim Superintendent Brian Conboy explained that the teachers, who had been placed on paid administrative leave, would have to undergo state-mandated disciplinary proceedings before they could be terminated.

"We understand, we can't undo what's been done," Conboy said at the time. "And we're not going to minimize it. We're not going to ignore it. It's part of what we need to address going forward."

However, former Babylon students subsequently criticized the district's handling of the allegations, telling Patch in February 2023 that the disciplinary proceedings were long overdue and represented only part of the broader institutional problems they believed needed to be addressed.

Despite previous acknowledgments from district leadership, the Attorney General's Office said additional measures remain necessary to strengthen protections for students and restore trust within the school community.

In August 2025, investigators presented their detailed findings and conclusions to the district's legal counsel, along with a proposed resolution outlining extensive reforms.

The Attorney General's Office said it has continued negotiating with the district since then.

The district has adopted several changes, including updates to its Title IX policies governing appropriate interactions and relationships between adults and students.

However, the Attorney General's Office said the district has not agreed to a final resolution.

State investigators are calling for additional reforms to ensure that complaints involving harassment, bullying and educator misconduct are promptly and thoroughly investigated, particularly when allegations concern adult employees.

The proposed reforms also include stronger protections for students and complainants against retaliation, better support for those reporting misconduct and meaningful training for all adults who work with students.

That training would address appropriate boundaries between educators and students, as well as requirements for reporting concerns about misconduct in writing.

The Attorney General's Office also wants the district to improve transparency regarding how complaints are handled and establish effective ways for students, parents and other community members to report concerns and provide feedback.

The district must also commit to maintaining those practices and allowing monitoring by the Attorney General's Office as the changes take effect.

Despite the district's stated progress, the Attorney General's Office maintained that additional commitments are required.

"The District must commit to implement other critical reforms, sustain the new practices and procedures, and comply with OAG monitoring as those reforms take effect," the letter states.

The Attorney General's Office said it intends to continue negotiating in good faith with district counsel to address the concerns identified during the investigation.

A comprehensive report detailing the investigation's findings and explaining how the district's failures harmed students and their families is expected to be released before the end of 2026.

The findings will also outline measures intended to prevent similar misconduct and improve accountability within the district.

"The Babylon community deserves a school district that will commit to reforms to ensure a safe and supportive learning environment for all," the Attorney General's Office wrote.