*The names of survivors are pseudonyms to protect their confidentiality.
“The most frustrating part about the whole process was that, when I came back to school the next term, nothing had happened. Absolutely nothing had been done to help me even though all these people said, ‘Yes, we’re going to help you,’” said Jordan*, a student who reported his sexual assault to M-A’s administration.
The M-A Chronicle interviewed five students and alumni about their experiences with reporting sexual assault and harassment at M-A. Their experiences varied widely, but all were upset with the process and in administration’s lack of follow-through.
The Sequoia Union High School District has a specific Title IX procedure outlining how to handle reports of sexual assault and harassment, but it appears M-A’s administration too often disregarded this process, leading to an unclear and uncomfortable process for survivors that had some even regretting their decision to report.
The M-A Chronicle brought the concerns in this editorial to Principal Karl Losekoot and Assistant Vice Principal (AVP) Nicholas Muys and both agreed to work to improve the current system based on the reports of these survivors. Losekoot said, “We need students to report incidents for this campus to be a safe environment for all students. We see students are asking for more support in the process and we want them to feel supported, too. We want to make reporting as safe and comfortable as possible.”
The Reporting Process and Title IX
Title IX guarantees all students equal access to education. When a student experiences sexual assault or harassment, they are robbed of this right. Thus, when a school receives a report of sexual assault, they must provide supportive measures for the survivor, and, as Muys said, “ensure that we have a thorough enough understanding of what happened to ensure the access to public education for the complainant.” Supportive measures are designed to preserve a student’s education and must be offered to the survivor regardless of the status of the investigation. They can include no-contact orders, class schedule changes, and extensions on assignments.
In an instance where there is ongoing danger, schools must report the assault to the police, who conduct their own investigation and contact parents.
Jordan said, “[Administration] promised that they would get that person out of my classes next year. Still, my mom emailed [the administrator] after I talked with him to verify on paper that ‘you’re going to get this student out of my child’s class’ and he never responded. She sent it two or three times and [received] nothing.”
On the first day of school, Jordan discovered he was in the same class as his assailant. “I basically had to run out of the classroom, and I felt pretty embarrassed,” he said. “Here are these new teachers that I was hoping to get started on a new foot with, but I couldn’t.”
Jordan added, “I was angry [with administration] because I think it’s pretty simple to prevent. This is their job.” After reaching out to his counselor, Jordan was eventually moved out of the class with his assailant. However, this mistake never should have occurred in the first place.
After reaching out to his counselor, Jordan was eventually moved out of the class with his assailant. However, this mistake never should have occurred in the first place.
After another student, Lauren*, reported her experience with sexual harassment, administration offered counseling, but Lauren said, “I could only go once because they never followed through with it—they pretty much didn’t do anything.”
Not only did administrators fail to provide adequate supportive measures, they also did not sufficiently inform interviewed students of their options moving forward. Specifically, once students reported their assault, administration failed to explain what a Title IX complaint is and how they could file one, which is legally required.
Beyond this, the entire process seemed chaotic to survivors.
Anna* said the entire process was confusing. “It was overwhelming because I had no idea where to start and also it’s a very emotional thing to be going through.”
Lauren said, “[Administration] doesn’t really have a set protocol at all, and the situation is already scary, but it also seems like they don’t know what they’re going to do. It’s kind of just confusing—they’re adults, they’re running the school. They should be aware and knowledgeable, but they seem really confused, too.”
Administration’s Handling of Sexual Assault and Harassment
Though there was some degree of investigation in all cases where interviewed students came forward to administration, the process of reporting itself was unnecessarily uncomfortable and stressful for students.
Shiwali Patel, Director of Justice for Student Survivors & Senior Counsel at the National Women’s Law Center, explained, “The people who conduct the interviews and the investigation should be trained on how sexual assault impacts someone and might impact their ability to recall certain facts or details so the investigation is conducted in a way that’s trauma-informed.”
Another student, Molly*, said she felt pressured to reveal more details than she wanted to during her interview with an M-A administrator. She said, “I felt uncomfortable, he kept pushing.”
In Lauren’s case, her ex-partner and his friends circulated an explicit video of her. After she reported the incident, she said, “It was just me alone in this room while they had a bunch of other guys in a separate room.” She continued, “[The female staff member] understood better what it’s like to be like a girl. [The male staff member who helped handle the case] couldn’t really understand why I was so scared or why I was crying so much; he just seemed impatient.”
Lauren also had an inexcusable interaction with a staff member. After over four hours of interviewing, Lauren was accosted by her assailant’s coach, who is also an M-A teacher, while walking down Pride Hall. “He came out of nowhere while I was in the hallway and started yelling things at me like, ‘This guy’s a good kid, he would never do something like that!’ And then [an administrator] started screaming at [the staff member.]” Afterward, she said, “I cried and went home. I just couldn’t. It was just embarrassing.” This staff member is still at M-A.
After Jordan reported his assault to administration, he underwent an interviewing process with an administrator and was eventually directed to M-A’s then School Resource Officer (SRO). However, he said it was a demeaning process and the SRO even insinuated that Jordan could have prevented the assault had he wanted to. He said, “The SRO was a complete asshole. He told me if I didn’t want to do something, I should just not do it.”
The M-A Chronicle requested a statement from the SRO involved about the allegations. Commander Dan Larsen responded instead; he said, “We acknowledge the importance of including diverse perspectives in discussions surrounding sexual assault. Individual experiences can vary significantly, and one person’s perception may not necessarily reflect the reality of our approach or the professionalism of our staff.”
If your Title IX coordinator is your principal, really how many of their work hours are they able to spend toward Title IX? And that reflects how much value the school is placing on Title IX compliance.
Shiwali Patel, Director of Justice for Student Survivors & Senior Counsel at the National Women’s Law Center
M-A’s Title IX coordinator is Principal Karl Losekoot. Across all interviewees, Losekoot was not involved in the investigation and it was handled by other administrators; this makes sense, as a principal already has a demanding job and should not be expected to also assume the time consuming and important role of Title IX coordinator.
Patel explained that this is the case at many K-12 schools; within our district, four Title IX coordinators are school principals and three are Assistant Vice Principals (AVPs). Patel said, “If your Title IX coordinator is your principal, really how many of their work hours are they able to spend toward Title IX? And that reflects how much value the school is placing on Title IX compliance.”
It is important to have a Title IX coordinator who is not an administrator because, in instances where a student reports anonymously, it is the Title IX coordinator’s responsibility to decide whether to initiate an investigation or file a formal Title IX complaint on their behalf. Title IX coordinators are required to file a complaint “when a safety threat exists” or if not doing so would be “deliberately indifferent,”meaning clearly unreasonable. A school administrator is less likely to file a Title IX complaint against their own school or staff than an independent coordinator.
The District does have a separate Title IX coordinator, Jarett Dooley, who works with site-level Title IX coordinators. Muys said, “We work hand-in-hand with the district when we even think that we’re dealing with a potential Title IX case.”
Dooley explained, “Every person involved in the Title IX grievance procedure is properly and routinely trained on Title IX, including the grievance procedure, supportive measures, impartiality, and how to conduct an investigation including the use of a trauma-informed approach.” Losekoot and Muys confirmed all AVPs receive Title IX training.
Standards of Proof at Schools
Though assault cases often have no physical evidence, school administrations must only prove that the incident occurred to a “preponderance of the evidence,” which means that the assault was more likely to have happened than not. This is much less demanding than the standard in criminal cases of “beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Patel said, “The school shouldn’t use the fact that there isn’t other evidence or physical evidence against the respondent to dismiss the complaint—they still have to conduct an investigation. Even if all the school has is a statement from the complainant and a statement from the respondent, they can still make determinations based on those interviews.”
Because of this lower burden, schools have the unique opportunity to bring justice to survivors without having them endure the complex and even more demanding process of criminal prosecution that few choose to pursue.
Patel said, “Schools should not rely on law enforcement investigations. Oftentimes, we hear that schools are delaying their response because there’s a pending law enforcement investigation. You shouldn’t be doing that.”
Because of this lower burden, schools have the unique opportunity to bring justice to survivors without having them endure the complex and even more demanding process of criminal prosecution that few choose to pursue.
During Lauren’s investigation, even though she had several witnesses, she was bombarded with questions to the point of exhaustion. Lauren said, “[When I initially reported it,] administration was saying [the video] was child pornography and that it was illegal. But eventually, they were like, ‘We can’t find the video.’ Then they asked me, ‘Are you sure there was a video? Are you sure this video is real?’ And at that point, I was just so done, so I was just like, ‘No, there wasn’t any video. I don’t even know what I’m talking about,’ and invalidated my whole story. I was crying a lot that day. Then they just dropped the whole investigation.” Though it is understandable that administrators would want to find as much evidence as possible, this continued interrogation was unnecessary—the preponderance of evidence standard does not require physical evidence.
Communicating Outcomes With Survivors
All interviewees believe that administration took no action against their assailant. This is once again due to a lack of communication—administration did not communicate to any of the interviewees the outcome of their investigations or if any action had been taken against their assailants. Legally, schools are required to tell students the outcome of the investigation and what action administration has taken against their assailant if they file a Title IX complaint.
Muys said, “We try to communicate as much as we can about what’s happening from a discipline standpoint. It’s a little delicate, but if a case met the criteria for a Title IX investigation, it would eventually involve a full disclosure of findings to all parties.” When students file a formal Title IX complaint, the AVP handling the case will send out a notice of the outcome of the investigation and disciplinary action to both the complainant and respondent.
I feel like administration didn’t handle the situation. The whole thing was pointless, and I don’t think that something like that should feel pointless.
Lauren
However, it is not necessary for students to file a Title IX complaint to receive this information. Under Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), which is the main law that protects student educational privacy, schools can choose to disclose “the final results of the disciplinary proceeding” as long as the survivor alleges violence or a non-forcible sex offense that violates the institution’s rules. Many survivors report their assaults to gain closure and clarity, and therefore since administration can communicate the outcome of their investigation, they should.
Lauren said, “I feel like administration didn’t handle the situation. The whole thing was pointless, and I don’t think that something like that should feel pointless.”
Molly said, “I wish administration would have punished [my assailant], especially since it happened on campus. I feel like it wasn’t big enough for his entire life to be ruined, but they could have dealt more directly with him, done something that was local or on campus. I don’t know what could have happened, but I wish something had happened.”
Conclusion
Going through an experience of sexual assault is already complicated and traumatizing on its own.
Anna described the aftermath of her assault: “The next day I just knew—I had never felt the way I felt then. I felt like my body was disgusting and my skin wasn’t mine. I was so sad and confused. I didn’t tell most of my friends and I didn’t tell my family at all because I was just so ashamed. And I think that’s the hardest part of assault: as a survivor, even though we’re not alone, we just feel so alone and isolated.”
Anna decided not to further the investigation because she was afraid of backlash. She said, “He was one of the star players on the football team and a lot of people were like, ‘You’re gonna ruin his career and ruin his life. You’re not even thinking about that.’ There is such a stigma around sexual assault and so much shame that’s brought on to victims and it shouldn’t be that way. It’s not something you could have controlled—you didn’t deserve this and it doesn’t define who you are. I took reporting it to the administration as a way of gaining my power back.”
Another student, Clara*, said, “The most frustrating part for me is that he’s still walking around on campus. I see him almost every day. There was a time period where I was genuinely afraid to walk to class alone.”
When Lauren’s friend experienced a type of harassment similar to her, Lauren advised her not to report; she said, “I just told her that there’s really nothing you can do about it.”
The most frustrating part for me is that he’s still walking around on campus. I see him almost every day. There was a time period where I was genuinely afraid to walk to class alone.
Clara
Patel said, “The sexual assault data schools report is often not a reflection of what is actually happening, and part of that is because a lot of students don’t report. They might not feel comfortable; they might have had a bad experience or seen other students have bad experiences reporting; they might be scared; they might be unsure of their rights if they were to report.”
When asked if they would choose to report again, Lauren, Molly, and Jordan all said they would not. Lauren added, “It was a traumatizing day.”
Sexual assault is already greatly underreported; these chaotic and traumatizing processes have deterred students even further from coming forward.
Another anonymous student commented, “I didn’t report my sexual assault to administration. It is less stressful for me to sit through classes with my assaulter than to go through the process of reporting it to administration.”
Clara, who reported her assault on M-A’s anonymous tip line, added, “I wish that M-A was a safer environment where I felt like if I came forward with my name it could actually be confidential. But I don’t trust that with any of these school systems.”
Students should feel comfortable enough to come forward about their experiences, if only to seek out help for themselves.
Regardless of whether a student files a Title IX complaint, administration should guarantee counseling, class schedule changes, and other supportive measures. Additionally, administration should communicate with students about the school’s procedures, their options for moving forward, their rights, and, within the confines of the privacy rights of the assailant, the outcome and consequences of the investigation.
Regardless of whether a student files a Title IX complaint, administration should guarantee counseling, class schedule changes, and other supportive measures.
Losekoot said that administration is going to look at ways to ensure supportive measures are documented and followed through on. For example, he said administrators will work on developing a better process to keep students out of classes with their assailants. “We need to document the supports and interventions we provided and there needs to be direct email communication with the student’s counselor in addition to just putting it in Infinite Campus,” he said.
Regarding communication with survivors, he said, “If the case was a ‘full’ Title IX case then we absolutely would have informed them of the outcome. But it looks like there’s a way that we can improve communication in [situations where students don’t file a formal complaint]. As a District, we are moving towards addressing cases through the Uniform Complaint Process and formalizing communication at the end of an investigation. We’re going to make sure we circle back with students and families to tell them where we’re at or what the end result of the investigation is.”
He added, “I see [from this article] that students want to make sure they know their rights—I couldn’t agree more. If we’re not communicating that, we need to be communicating that and so we’re going to reflect and make sure that we are very clear on what student’s rights are and what the process is.”
As Anna said, “Sexual assault is way more prevalent than anyone understands, especially within high school communities—you shouldn’t have to go do extensive research to figure out how you can get justice or support.”
Losekoot also said that they would try to make the investigation process more comfortable for students and would consider alternatives for the interviewing process such as having a social-emotional counselor or trusted teacher sit in on the conversations, and explicitly asking students which AVP they’d prefer to talk to.
We can only act on information that we have and I do believe that there are many cases where we’ve helped support students or helped create greater safety on campus.
Principal Karl Losekoot
Though these survivors’ experiences with reporting were harrowing, this does not mean that others should not come forward. While this system is flawed, reporting an assault is still the best way to keep you and others safe.
Losekoot said, “We not only want students to report and feel supported enough to report, but we need students to report in order for this to be a safe environment for all students.” He added, “We can only act on information that we have and I do believe that there are many cases where we’ve helped support students or helped create greater safety on campus.”
Administration often faces an incredibly difficult situation when handling reports of sexual assault. The best way to prioritize the emotional well-being of survivors is through a process that is transparent, organized, and offers easy access to support regardless of whether or not a formal Title IX complaint is filed.
Beyond legal obligations, the main focus of these procedures should always prioritize the emotional well-being of the survivor. Administration should implement these changes and adhere to District policy to improve the reporting procedure to treat survivors with the dignity they deserve.
If you or someone you know is a survivor of sexual assault or harassment, help is available. You can call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or chat online. Sexual assault can be reported to any staff member on campus.
