BREAKING NEWS: 100 walk out at HS to protest handling of sexual assaults
BAR HARBOR, May 27, 2022 - About a quarter of the student body at the MDI high school staged a walkout this morning to protest against the administration’s handling of sexual assaults.
"They were walking out because they have a perceived notion that incidents of either sexual harassment or assault aren't dealt with as far as they know," said superintendent Mike Zboray. "And so they just wanted to make sure that they had their voices heard. It actually went off very well."
On Thursday a fight broke out between two boys, one of whom had been accused of improper contact with several female students, according to students outside the building. That student received a two-week suspension. The penalty for the student who started the fight could not be determined. But some said the protest was sparked by the belief that student would be punished more severely than the one accused of sexual assault.
The walkout which started at 9:30 lasted less than a half hour after Zboray defused the situation. “I think the kids were pretty respectful in terms of coming out, sharing their concerns with signs and in talking,” Zboray said. “They came out at their own time, and then they marched around the back and then they came in through the building. The rest of the kids went back to class and then there was maybe not 25 to 30 at the end.”
The protest was organized by junior Charles Dalton.
“I invited them to come and talk about their concerns because we're actually in the middle of restarting the hearing committee, which is an organization of both students and teachers that help solve problems or incidents that occur between students,” Zboray said.
“We're also in the middle of reworking our harassment policy and trying to make it a little bit more clear, not only Title 9 and and the Maine state harassment laws, but also within board policy, to describe what those behaviors are unacceptable and then provide a more an easier reporting system for that.
Zboray said it is challenging when the families of victims choose not to formally report an incident, “because Title 9 and in the Maine state law require formal reporting, even if you go to the Human Rights Council.
“I thought what the kids did, they let their voices be heard. I certainly wanted to make sure that I heard that and provide a forum for them in that process of decision-making to be able to take some of that into account.”