" One of New Jersey's most elite private schools says it will improve programs to protect students on its campus as part of a settlement reached last week with 21 victims of alleged sexual abuse at the school .

The Pingry School also reached a financial settlement with the victims for an undisclosed amount, according to a statement released Friday.

"We are deeply sorry for the abuse the survivors experienced while at our school and the pain they have endured since. Their courage in coming forward is extraordinary," Jeffrey Edwards, chairman of Pingry's board of trustees, said in the statement.

Pingry released a report last year that said a popular teacher and Boy Scout leader at the school was accused of abusing at least 27 boys over six years in the mid 1970s.

27 victims claim abuse by Pingry teacher

Thad "Ted" Alton allegedly targeted preteen boys in his class at the school's Short Hills campus and in his Boy Scout troop. Some students allege they were assaulted anywhere from 25 to 100 times.

The investigative firm Pingry hired to write the March 2017 report also found alleged sexual misconduct by two other teachers at the school.

Pingry officials were not aware of the alleged abuse at the time, except for one board member who heard about Alton's behavior, but never officially reported it, the internal investigation found.

The alleged victims filed a lawsuit in March alleging the sexual misconduct and abuse was well known at the elite school, though no one did anything about it .

Alton, now in his 70s and self-employed in New York, was not named as a defendant in the suit. He is a registered sex offender because of a 1990 conviction for deviate sexual misconduct in upstate New York.

As part of the settlement, Pingry will put new safety measures in place and review its current policies on protecting students from abuse.

"Pingry and the survivors will work together in a variety of ways, including establishing a Student Safety Advisory Committee to identify ways to further improve safety initiatives at the school," the victims' statement said. "As a result of their input, the school will also undertake an audit of its child protection policies, including a review of existing methods to report suspicions of abuse or inappropriate behavior, among other actions."

The attorneys representing the victims praised the group for coming forward decades after they were allegedly abused.

"We also are pleased that the Pingry School has heard our clients and taken measures to acknowledge their pain. Most of all, we are hopeful because the survivors and the school have agreed to important steps to meet their ultimate common goal-- making sure that the Pingry School is as safe as possible and ensuring that this history can never be repeated," attorneys Stephen Crew and Peter Janci said in a statement.

The settlement was reached with the help of a mediator based in Boston, the attorneys said.

Pingry, founded in 1861, has a lower school in the Short Hills section of Millburn and a middle and upper school campus in the Basking Ridge section of Bernards Township. Tuition for its 1,100 students ranges from $33,748 to $39,523 a year.

The school has a $93 million endowment, Pingry officials said.

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Link to article: http://www.nj.com/education/2018/05/pingry_settles_lawsuit_with_21_sex_abuse_victims.html