The Haslett Public School District is continuing to face scrutiny for its handling of four allegations of sexual assault at an elementary school.
Nearly a dozen people spoke during the Haslett Board of Education’s meeting Monday night, the school board’s first meeting since WKAR News reported on allegations of four sexual assaults that took place on the playground of Murphy Elementary School in May.
Many of them read the same prepared statement alleging the district violated state law by not immediately reporting the allegations to Child Protective Services.
Brittani Thomas is a mom of three kids in Haslett. She says the majority of child sexual abuse cases go unreported.
“When one is reported, we really need to be the first ones protecting these kids,” Thomas said. “Whether it was a child being brave enough to come forward, whether it was somebody happened to actually witness the event, these things need to be dealt with immediately and these kids need to feel like their bravery and their honesty isn’t going to be swept under the rug.”
Lindsay Rose says she moved to Haslett in 2019 and has a son who will be joining Murphy Elementary School in the fall.
She says the district is losing trust from the community and more transparency is needed.
“I float in many different groups. And still, even tonight, there were people that had no idea this was going on in the community,” Rose said. “That secrecy creates more fear – especially in Mid-Michigan, where we have a history of this type of secrecy.”
Sarah Bove has two daughters in the school district. She says the district’s handling of the allegations sends the wrong message to students.
“The message that these young girls received is that this is not a big deal, this type of behavior is allowed. Don’t bother telling trusted adults, no one will do anything,” Bove said. “The message the assailant received could potentially reinforce this deeply concerning behavior.”
“Even the student witnesses who came forward learned that their bravery did not matter. We encourage children time and time again to come forward if someone touches them inappropriately, and then when they do, we did nothing in response.”
Haslett Superintendent Patrick Malley told WKAR News last month that the district is aware of the allegations and has opened a Title IX investigation.