Sexual Harassment Continues as New Charges are Filed

By Kristi Geske

Parents with children enrolled at Charles Hoffman Elementary School in Running Springs demanded a meeting with Rim of the World School District officials after an article was published in last week's Mountain News concerning a report issued by the United States Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights (OCR).

The report followed numerous complaints filed by parents of Lake Arrowhead Elementary School students. The students - two girls - were victims of repeated sexual harassment by a male classmate who was initially allowed to remain in class out of the district's fear of losing federal funding. He was later transferred to Charles Hoffman Elementary School at the request of the boy's parents.

"The attack on this boy is very vivid. The article was very upsetting because there was a lot of inaccuracy in the report," said Rim of the World Unified School District Assistant Superintendent of Personnel Bryan Shaw during the conference on Tuesday, Feb. 1. However, when this reporter challenged Shaw's claims during the meeting, he was unable to give any specifics to support his charge that the article was incorrect.

In brief, OCR completed an investigation of a report and complaint against Rim of the World Unified School District and ruled the school district was in noncompliance with Title IX and the regulation when it failed to respond appropriately to complaints of sexual harassment suffered by a female student at Lake Arrowhead Elementary School, a fact that was reported in last week's article.

The final paragraph of that article noted, "On Wednesday, Jan. 26, it was reported to The Mountain News that the boy has already 'harassed' two girls. Officials at Charles Hoffman Elementary School (CHE) are reportedly conducting an investigation." This prompted several phone calls and letters from CHE parents who voiced their concerns regarding the intradistrict transfer.

Shaw said the Charles Hoffman Elementary School's teaching staff wanted to respond to the newspaper's article and one teacher stood up and said, "Guys, this is getting out of hand. He (the boy) is doing fine in the class and he is being vindicated."

Rim of the World Unified School District Superintendent Clint Harwick added, "One of the things that the teachers and staff talked about was that they were very comfortable with that student at Charles Hoffman Elementary. The student in question had a wonderful start and they feel that they can provide a safe environment."

NEW REPORTS

The 'safe environment' was questioned by parents who attended Tuesday's meeting.

"My daughter came to me yesterday and cried 'I will not use the bathroom at school anymore.' She said that she will hold it until she gets home because the boy has been in the little girls' bathroom," reported one CHE parent.

Said another, "I don't have a daughter, but I have a son who is currently buddy-buddy with this boy. What I am afraid of is that my son will start to act like him. I asked my son what he thinks of him and he would tell me, 'Oh, he's so nice to me. He is my friend.' That may be right, but you could not blame me if I would think that that is his way of manipulating my son."

Added another parent, "The kids are afraid to talk. This boy has had a history of threatening children and he is threatening our children. They are also embarrassed.

"My daughter was witness to another incident and when I asked her why she didn't tell what she saw when the principal asked her, she told me, 'I didn't want to embarrass my friend.' "

The parents filed official reports at the school district.

"This is something new and we are going to look into it," Harwick said.

TEMPERS FLARE

"Dr. Harwick, I have a question," one parent said. "I just wanted to know why this boy has been protected for years in the education system in this district while the other children are being victimized? Why is it that one child is allowed criminal behavior and allowed to victimize our children?

"Why is he allowed to continue doing that? To my understanding, nothing has been done to him except for one day of suspension, then moving him to a different classroom where he continued his activities - and now moving him to a different school where he is allowed to continue those criminal activities," the parent stated.

Another parent added, "These were not allegations. This is the same pattern with the things that happened at LAE. It is now happening at CHE. Children are not speaking the truth because they were being threatened by this boy.

"I asked my daughter why she didn't tell me about it the first time she witnessed it. She said, 'Mommy if I came to you and told you what he told me, he said he would kill you.' My daughter was afraid to tell me because she thinks that this boy would really kill me."

One very upset parent said, "I do not understand why you are protecting this boy. Why are you protecting this criminal behavior?"

Shaw replied, "He has rights."

When Shaw reiterated the boy's rights, parents inside the room became livid. "My daughter and everyone's children in this school district have rights, too. I am paying for the education that boy is getting!"

"What about our rights?" another exclaimed. "We paid for our rights! And we might be paying for this boy's rights too!"

"His rights do not supersede my daughter's rights!"

"My daughter should not have to deal with this. This is not something that should even be a subject to handle."

"You know what? I am pulling my children. I have three children in the school district." still another parent said. "Who's with me? You are going to lose a lot of money. And you don't care? Oh wait, I just got a shrugged shoulder," the parent said, eluding to Shaw's reaction to her statement.

MORE QUESTIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

"What is the school district going to do right now? Not tomorrow, not next week but right now!"

"What is it going to take for the school district to have this boy transferred in a different school district?"

Jaws dropped when Shaw replied, "If we found it to be a serious factor then we will move him out."

"It IS serious! How many more children do we need to sacrifice and become his victims before you act?" one parent said. "How many more letters do you need from students and parents testifying to this boy's odd behavior?"

"Mr. Shaw, you should admit that one of the biggest problems here is the lack of trust. You have lied to us. You've told the parents different things when we called you. You are a liar!"

Commotion inside the room stopped when Harwick said, "I do not appreciate you denigrating my staff especially Mr. Shaw. It is not right to call him a liar when he is not. I have worked with him for years and I can attest that he is a very good person."

Harwick's statement failed to stop other parents from expressing their concerns. "Mr. Shaw is full of inconsistencies! There probably was an action, but the action was not correct! You need to do a better job and stop all the cover-up!"

Although most of the parents were furious, they stated their willingness to work with the school district. Suggestions were then given. "What about getting him into an alternative education?" one parent offered.

Said one parent who has taught in an alternative school, "The school district might have to pay for his alternative education but I guarantee you that whatever money you will shell out for this program will be a lot cheaper than paying for legal issues."

Another parent suggested, "What about imposing a buddy system in school especially when one girl needs to go to the bathroom? That will probably scare him away when he sees there are several of them going in the bathroom than just one girl."

"What about a 'shadow' on this boy instead of hiring more personnel to oversee our children during recess and times when they're not inside their classrooms?"

Several parents also recommended a different recess time for the boy. "Maybe that will stop him from verbally molesting our children."

Harwick agreed to have additional supervision in the playground and bathrooms. He added the boy is currently undergoing several intervention programs. He also stated the district staff will have additional meetings with Charles Hoffman Elementary School's teaching staff.

"We will definitely follow up with the outside agencies. There will also be a long-term supervision. We will send letters to parents with children enrolled at Charles Hoffman Elementary School in Running Springs informing them of the situation and what steps the school district is currently doing."

ANOTHER OCR REPORT

Following the publication of last week's article, The Mountain News received another report from the Office for Civil Rights on a similar case involving the Rim of the World School District.

The school district, once again, was "in noncompliance with Title IX and the regulation when it failed to respond adequately to a complaint of sexual harassment. OCR has determined that the district will address the compliance issues raised in this case by implementing the resolution agreement reached in another case."

This report involved another Lake Arrowhead Elementary School [then] fourth-grade female student and the same boy who now attends Charles Hoffman Elementary School. The victim is no longer enrolled in the Rim of the World Unified School District.

While The Mountain News knows the identity of the second victim her name will remain confidential. She will be referred to as "the second girl."

The OCR report showed the second girl was transferred to the boy's class after her parents signed a request form dated Dec. 19, 2004 because, another boy, in the second girl's former class began exhibiting odd behavior. The problems with the other boy, however, were not mentioned in the transfer request.

As reported in last week's Mountain News, "The students also reported seeing the boy push the girl at the playground and slide his hand under the girl's shirt and began rubbing the girl's chest area." In this report, the boy actually pushed the second girl (not the first victim) and began rubbing the second girl's chest area. This was noted in the second girl's letter addressed to Lake Arrowhead Elementary School principal Debbie Wogen, a copy of which was furnished to The Mountain News.

When the second girl was transferred to the boy's class, the boy then began to "sexually harass the second girl during recess by chasing her, pushing her to the ground and getting on top of her."

OCR also found out the school district received a handwritten note from the student who complained about this boy verbally harassing her.

The school district provided OCR with its interview notes. According to OCR, "The notes were brief, fragmentary and, in some places, unclear."

The complete OCR report is available on our websites: www.crestlinecourier-news.com or www.mountain-news.com.

The OCR added "The principal did not write and the superintendent did not request an investigative report as required by the district procedures."

It was also noted in the OCR's report that the student victim is no longer enrolled in the district.

"Because the student is no longer enrolled in the district and the complainants sought only a remedy that would address the district's ability to respond to complaints of sexual harassment, OCR did not seek an individual remedy as part of the resolution of this complaint.

"OCR concludes that the actions agreed to by the district in that case will also resolve the compliance issues in this case. OCR will monitor the implementation of the agreement and is informing the district of these findings by concurrent letter."

Print this story

Email this story