Students feel DHS fails to address sexual assault allegations

PHOTO: Students held a demonstration to protest the manner in which the school handles sexual assault allegation.

By Genna Olavarri, Shira Kalish & Ayisi Ni,

BlueDevilHUB.com Staff–

“It just definitely doesn’t feel safe at school.”

Schools orchestrate safety drills. Students rehearse the motions to stay safe during fires, earthquakes and instances of active shooters on campus. 

Yet, some students at Davis High feel that certain aspects of their safety are overlooked. 

After the sexual assault assembly presented on April 11, DHS students began coming forward with their own accounts of sexual assault and the hurdles they faced in attempting to report it. 

A DHS sophomore, who requested to remain anonymous because she is still in the process of reporting an instance of molestation on campus, reported an instance of sexual harassment to the school.

“(A district staff member) just had me pretend to be the person who harassed me and had my dad pretend to be me and just recreate it and apparently I wasn’t the only one who she had do that,” the sophomore said.  

The experience left the sophomore feeling unsupported and uncomfortable on campus. 

“I definitely wanted to drop out of school for a while, especially the month after,” she said. “It just definitely doesn’t feel safe at school.”

The school gave her the opportunity to change classes, but midway through the year, she felt this was an unrealistic choice. 

“It’s nice if I was able to take that option, but it’s so far through the school year,” she said. 

After her report, the school offered to put the sophomore in touch with a counselor.

“Not a single one has reached out to me. I was asked again if I wanted a counselor to speak to me,” she said. “It’s been two or three weeks and I still haven’t heard from a single counselor.”

The sophomore sought to file a Title IX report. The school did not help her find the form and she went to the school library to find and print the form herself.

Title IX protects students and staff in public institutions from discrimination based on sex. To file a Title IX complaint, a complainant must fill out a form either electronically or manually and send it to the Office for Civil Rights at the Department of Education. It must be filed within 180 days of the last act of discrimination, but if action is taken by the school, the complaint must file within 60 days of the last action taken.  

Another sophomore who requested to remain anonymous told the HUB that earlier this year, a man forcefully groped her and rubbed himself against her in town, calling her derogatory names denigrating her gender. A DHS student witnessed the incident and messaged her saying that he would have joined in to harass her. 

The sophomore talked to her counselor about it the next day. According to the student, her counselor did not direct her to adequate resources. 

DHS Principal Tom McHale explained that all staff are mandated reporters, meaning the school must involve the police should any allegations of sexual assault arise. 

According to Cara Messmore, the Director of Student Support Services and the Title IX coordinator for the district, that can keep some students from confiding in their counselors. 

“The awareness that staff are mandated reporters makes it difficult,” Messmore said. “Sometimes people who have been victimized do not want the incident to be reported to law enforcement.” 

While McHale acknowledges that may prevent some students from coming forward, he encourages all students who have been sexually assualted to ask for help from the school. McHale said the school should provide resources like counseling, publicizing hotlines like the one run by Empower Yolo and rescheduling classes so that students do not have to stay in close proximity to a harasser or abuser. 

“I am meeting with every student that has contacted me,” McHale said. “We focus on supporting the student who comes forward.”

McHale expressed confidence in the abilities of the staff in handling sexual assualt cases, but said that what matters to him is that students do not feel the same.

“There were clearly some students who were impacted, felt hurt, and so that came out more clearly and that conversation took place after the assembly ended,” McHale said. “We want students to be confident that we will act on what they tell us.” 

And if students do not want to talk to school staff, they have an alternative.

“It’s important for students to know they can go directly to Empower Yolo and Empower Yolo can keep more confidentiality,” Messmore said. 

According to Messmore, disciplinary action, such as detention and expulsion, are on a case-by-case basis and can only result after a district investigation, which is independent of the justice system, or an immediate safety concern. 

“A discipline would be enacted if a student is found responsible,” Messmore said. “We have not enacted such an action this school year.”