Seattle Schools Community Forum

Seattle Public Schools, and Board President Peaslee in particular, have been pushing a narrative about the November 2012 sexual assault that has been making a lot of people mad. Just in case you, or someone you know, has read the District's account and cannot see why people are angry about it, I will offer an explanation. Here is the District's narrative . Here's what's wrong with it:

Something's missing and we all know what it is. It's the unfulfilled commitment I have been requesting for over ten years. It's the hole at the heart of the district's dysfunction. It is the emptiness at the root of the complaints and protests about the Garfield rape case. It is what was absent from Director Peaslee's understanding of the protests and it was omitted from Dr. Nyland's letter. The District staff does not comply with procedure, policy, regulation, or law and they do so without consequence. No matter if the violation is trivial or tragic, they are not only neglected, not only forgiven, but even defended. A sea of outrage rose up against Director Peaslee's tonedeaf remarks at the Board meeting. We were shocked by her misunderstanding of the protests. They were not calls to hold the boy accountable for his actions but a call to hold the district staff accountable for their actions (and inactions). How was it possible for Director Peaslee to ...

I asked the Department of Education spokeperson about issues around Title IX and Seattle Schools and here was their statement: We can confirm that OCR is currently investigating a Title IX sexual violence case involving the Seattle Public Schools. As this is an open investigation, we cannot share any additional information. For more on how OCR handles civil rights complaints, please see our Web site here . The Department would not comment on any other Title IX investigations involving Seattle Public Schools.