Parents in Deerfield’s Frontier Regional School District are criticizing school administrators for their lack of response to a sexual misconduct incident that was reported to have happened at the high school last month.
During a Frontier Regional School Committee meeting on Tuesday, parents said they were troubled by a lack of communication from school leaders about the incident at Frontier Regional School, and that they felt families were not properly supported in the wake of it.
“One of my children has told me that they feel like you’re not supposed to talk about this if it happens to you. That is the message that they’re getting from their school,” Deerfield Elementary School teacher and Frontier Regional parent Jennifer Smith told the school committee.
What happened
School officials have not shared much specific information about the incident out of concern for students’ privacy, so it is still unclear what exactly happened.
Even so, Frontier Regional Superintendent Darius Modestow confirmed to MassLive Thursday that the incident took place during school hours. But it did not involve any school staff.
Modestow also said Deerfield police were involved when the report was initially made. But in a Thursday statement to MassLive, the police department declined to confirm or deny an investigation into the incident or whether the incident even occurred.
Deerfield police incorrectly cited a Massachusetts law that mandates that police records about rape, sexual assault and domestic violence cases be kept confidential as their reason for not providing any information.
The law prohibits police and other officials from releasing such records without the consent of the victim. But it does not prevent them from releasing any information whatsoever about such cases.
In a letter to families, Modestow said that district administrators responded to the incident immediately after it was reported.
“All required reporting was completed, the authorities were engaged, and we offered immediate and ongoing support to the parties involved,” he wrote.
More recently, the district has extended counseling support to the entire student and employee population and created a plan to institute additional “supportive and preventative measures,” according to Modestow.
“The safety and well-being of our students is our top priority. The District investigates all claims and allegations of conduct violations, including Title IX allegations, thoroughly. The District takes all such allegations seriously and consistently implements safety supports as appropriate,” Modestow said in a statement to MassLive Thursday.
Parents’ response
During the school committee meeting Tuesday night, concerned parents said district leaders’ response to the incident had been inadequate so far. School administrators should acknowledge that they erred and apologize, the parents said.
“As parents, we need to know what is happening at our child’s school so that we can have informed conversations with them, especially about something this serious. Instead, we’re learning what’s going on from our children,” Ellen Johnson told the school committee. “The continued lack of response from the school has left families and students trying to find a way to deal with this on our own.”
Parent April Wharton emphasized that, while she understands the need to protect students’ and victims’ privacy, the lack of communication from district leaders caused misinformation about the incident to be shared, creating “an environment of secrecy, shame and distrust.”
“The lack of communication regarding such a grave and important incident makes me feel that the safety and well-being of my child is not a priority to the school or the administration,” she said.
The parents made suggestions for further action by the district, such as asking local experts what the best way to address the situation with the students is, creating online sign-ups for students who want to meet privately with support staff and creating “safe and easy” assault reporting structures and protocols.
They also asked that school leaders share more information about how they responded to the incident when it was reported, as well as their procedures for responding to such incidents.
“It is the victim’s choice how and what to share with others, but the event effected the entire school,” Ellen Moise told the school committee. “ … It is the administration’s responsibility to provide some level of assurance to students and families that our children are safe, that measures are in place to respond to sexual assaults, and when something terrible happens, that the school is ready and willing to appropriately support victims.”
School leaders’ response
At the school committee meeting, Chairperson Melissa Novak thanked the parents for sharing their concerns, adding that committee members “are listening.”
“I just want to say that I really appreciate the strength that you all have shown in bringing forth these concerns, both as parents and as community members,” she said. ” … I want to assure you from the school committee perspective that we are committed to making sure that this school is a safe space for the kids.”
It is unclear whether Modestow’s letter to parents was sent before or after the school committee meeting, but in it, he tried to “reassure” families of Frontier Regional School’s safety by highlighting the school’s security measures and health supports.
The high school has security cameras, a “warm and friendly” school resource officer, six mental health counselors and a variety of physical and mental health programming, he said.
Still, Modestow wrote that the incident had led school leaders to come up with ideas for how improve their response if and when similar “challenging” incidents occur.
These ideas included communicating with families more quickly and effectively in the wake of such incidents; making harassment, bullying, and sexual misconduct reporting easier and reviewing and revising relevant school policies.
“In the past few weeks, we have considered not only how we could prevent similar incidents from occurring, but how we can communicate more quickly and effectively if they do,” Modestow wrote. “In addition, we are thinking about the overall culture at Frontier and how it can be improved to benefit the safety of all.”
