The Platte County School District #2 board and administrators say they're doing everything they can to address a February sexual assault incident in February and the contentious situation it has created since.
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GUERNSEY--As two fathers of kindergarten students addressed the Guernsey-Sunrise School Board, administrators, and a mixed crowd of community members and school staff Monday evening, their pain and frustration was evident. The source for that pain and frustration is the result of an event that was reported initially by one kindergartner and then others in February--that they had been sexually assaulted by a classmate. Both parents shared serious concerns with the way they say they feel the district and administration has mishandled the situation when it was reported and in the two months since the initial report.
A specific concern they wanted addressed at Monday night’s meeting was a report that the child accused of perpetrating the assault has continued to have issues in the classroom now that he has been returned following his initial removal. One of the fathers speaking stated the accused has subsequently been removed from class several times within the past week for behavioral issues. Characterizing the child’s removal to include him “kicking and screaming”. he asked “Why should my child have to witness that time after time?”
When board members were asked if they had knowledge of that information, one board member said he had heard about the child’s removal once but not the additional times. That response drew more accusations that the administrators were not communicating with the board. District Superintendent Mike Beard stated that the information fell under a school discipline and confidentiality policy and could not be discussed publicly.
Monday night’s meeting came on the heels of the publication of a lengthy story by the Casper Star-Tribune over the weekend regarding the situation. Much of the article dealt with allegations made by parents speaking at the March school board meeting.