Overview
- Jeannie Norris, who led Miss Hall’s School from 1996 to 2012, was arraigned by Zoom on Monday and pleaded not guilty through her lawyer.
- Prosecutors allege Norris received repeated reports about longtime teacher Matthew Rutledge and failed to act, and they say she focused on the school’s reputation instead of student safety.
- Matthew Rutledge was indicted earlier in 2026 on three counts of rape tied to two former students, has pleaded not guilty, and worked at the school from 1991 until the allegations became public in 2024.
- The criminal investigation began after two alumnae who graduated in 2005 and 2010 went public in 2024 and an independent review later documented multiple firsthand accounts of misconduct during Norris’s tenure.
- Berkshire County District Attorney Timothy J. Shugrue says the probe is ongoing and expects more charges, and Norris’s next pretrial hearing is scheduled for November 18, 2026, a timeline that could lead to wider scrutiny of school policies and leadership.