Two days after 13 investigates uncovered hidden facts about 2 Raymond Park Middle School students engaging in sexual activity during shop class, Warren Township School administrators still aren't talking. The report is raising questions nationwide. In fact, nearly a half million viewers heard about the incident from the Dredge Report online. Parents in the district are outraged.
It just upsets me because it sounds like they are trying to make excuses. It doesn't matter to me how long it was. You know, 30 seconds, 30 minutes. Such as, it's too long and I wanna know where the teacher was and how this was able to happen.
How could it be kept quiet for that long and still just kind of, to us, being swept under the rug?
Associate school Superintendent Dr. Jeff Swensson confirmed the incident happened almost 4 months ago in an industrial arts lab with the teacher present. He told 13 investigates another child acted as a lookout, disputing an insider's claim that as many as 10 children may have witnessed the act. And more than 2 parents who called the district say they were told the incident only lasted 30 seconds.
The, the 30 seconds, it doesn't, yeah, I mean that's, that's not even a consideration. It's the fact that something occurred.
Kevin McDowell is the attorney for the Indiana Department of Education. He says districts often consult him on serious legal matters, but says this is the first he's heard of the Raymond Park incident. Schools are not required to report such incidents to the state. He won't criticize Warren Township but doesn't agree with the district's approach.
I can't imagine any administrator, you know, watch her assault or his assault that wouldn't address a situation like this because it is a serious matter. I really can't answer for them. I'm sure they have their reasons why. You know, is that the way I would address it? Well, my first rush reaction is, you know, I would have handled it differently.
I just want to be very confident that they're, you know, not witnessing, er, you know, and they're being protected. You know, they're not witnessing things that are harmful to them emotionally, physically, whatever.
This doesn't pose any danger to the other students, even if they did see it.
And, you know, I wanna I wanna be clear of what you are saying here.
All right, so they may have, they may have observed this. And while this is an activity you certainly don't see in the school. You know, and it is certainly something of the, you know, extremely unusual. Er, I don't, you know, I don't know where it posed any immediate danger to those students who saw it.