Lorain Schools will hire an outside firm to review sexual assault accusations

LORAIN — Lorain Schools will hire an outside agency to investigate the district's handling of sexual assault accusations, CEO Jeff Graham said Saturday. The move comes after students at Lorain High walked out of class Friday morning, spending close to two hours in the auditorium sharing stories of alleged assaults perpetrated on and off school grounds and throughout their lives. Some of the students' allegations included accusations the district and law enforcement did not take their claims seriously or questioned how the alleged victims handled themselves in the situations presented. "Kids for the first time ever were sharing their stories and ... there was obviously a cry for help and a demand for the school and everybody to do better at protecting our kids and to listen when they have concerns and to react appropriately," Graham said. "But there was also an opportunity for kids to share their worst stories and I believe they did that with the intent of helping us understand how painful things are and this is not something we can ignore." A sophomore created the Instagram account lhs_sa_protest earlier in the week, planning the walkout Friday and for students to march through the halls. When Principal Pat Coleman became aware of the students' plans, he unsuccessfully reached out via social media to try to meet with organizers, according to an email sent to The Chronicle-Telegram on Saturday. In an email shared with The Chronicle-Telegram by Lorain Schools Director of Communications Erin Graham, Coleman sent a message to high school staff on Thursday notifying them of the walkout, with plans for the event to serve as a "teachable moment and launching point for some positive dialogue," with minimal disruptions to classes. At the walkout, which was steered to the auditorium, teens shared their stories to those gathered. During Friday's protest, videos posted to social media by students show the crowd booing or chanting against any adult when they got near the microphone. At one point, Coleman said they were going to have "two more student speakers and then we're going to stop" and move on to the adults speaking — which students overruled by shouting over him and other staff. Coleman said Saturday his administrative team was uniform in giving the kids a space to speak and had at that time tried to move the event to the "next phase" but was clear the students wanted to hear from each other. "You read the room and as I read the room I made the decision to allow that," he said. "We could've stopped at any time but we didn't. We gave them that space to process." Adults also stepped in when students began naming others when sharing their stories— Coleman said Saturday it was out of concern for slander or an inflammatory reaction from the crowd — which caused the kids to chant "let (him/her) talk" until their classmates began speaking again. When those students began speaking again, they shared individual stories of alleged assaults at the hands of classmates, family or adults in their lives. A protest organizer told The Chronicle-Telegram on Friday the event was sparked in part by her own experiences reporting an incident to the district, which ultimately left her feeling small and like she shouldn't have come forward. She first reported to her school counselor she'd been sexually assaulted by a football player in September. Months later she reported it again to the school nurse — her cheerleading coach — but felt the investigation by the assistant principal was rushed and said she was asked by the assistant principal why she hadn't fought back or if she'd really told the boy "no." She said the way the school treats situations like her's was disgusting, ultimately sparking the protest. As the afternoon unfolded, others alleged they were approached by or knew girls who were approached by football players when they were 14 and the boys were 18. Some told stories from their childhood, alleging they were molested by trusted adults when they were 6 or 10 years old. Others talked about how they'd been pressured by boys to do things they weren't comfortable with, and then were begged by friends not to speak up. "You don't realize how traumatizing sexual assault can be," one girl said. "Stop means no, I don't want to means no, I don't feel like it means no, yes but no — it still means no. What you're doing is (hurting that person) especially if it's someone you trusted." On Saturday, Coleman addressed accusations from students that he'd called the afternoon a "bad therapy session," including posts shared on social media criticizing his handling of the event. Coleman said the protest resembled a group therapy situation — something he said he told Graham when the CEO arrived after it had started — and the students either misheard or rejected his characterization of "therapy." "I meant that in the most positive light, I use that phrase in the context of allowing the kids to continue sharing," he said. "I don't know if a student kind of overheard may be part of that out of context or there's a telephone game with that stuff, one kid heard it ... but somehow it did become a flashpoint with the kids. I'm sorry it did. ... I meant it in the most positive means possible." He noted therapy and social-emotional health are important to him not only as an educator but because his mother was a longtime therapist and school psychologist. "He was making sure I understood because I got there late, that what was happening was necessary — kids needed to share, we needed to listen and learn and not only that its good therapy," Graham said. "The 'bad therapy' thing he never said — not to me anyway. ... He was letting me know this is healthy." Graham stood by the students — and the district's need to investigate their accusations in the coming days. All school staff, from nurses and bus drivers to teachers and administrators, are all mandated reporters, meaning they are required to report cases of suspected child abuse or neglect, including sexual abuse or assault. Ohio Revised Code states mandated reporters must report suspected abuse to children services or police. The district's code of conduct notes Ohio Revised Code requires immediate reporting and does not include or permit employees "to investigate the probability of such a suspicion prior to making a report." It also includes a student complaint form for bullying, sexual harassment, dating violence and sexual violence, asking the student to list the names of the alleged perpetrator and explain what happened with different categories including if someone made sexual jokes, slurs or touched the victim in an "unwelcome manner." If the district receives a complaint, the principal or his designee is notified and the incident is investigated, according to the handbook. A report of the investigation is prepared when the investigation is complete. Coleman said generally those investigations are conducted by the assistant principals, and in many cases will include Safety Coordinator Reuben Figueroa, School Resource Officer Miguel Baez and/or Lorain police. Several students made allegations against football players Friday. Coleman said the district will not be targeting one group in its investigations but instead putting the whole campus under a microscope. "Each incident requires a full, fair, complete, impartial investigation and we have and will continue to attach that level of intensity to every investigation. We're not going to start with targeting one group, we're going to start with looking at it campus-wide -- we're going to turn over every stone and have conversations campus-wide on how we talk to our kids, steps we can take both informally and systemically to create safe spaces for kids, getting a trusted adult in place for each kid and those types of things." Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.