Students and parents are increasingly worried about incidents of sexual harassment and violence in Arlington Public Schools (APS). FOX 5 DC’s Sierra Fox reported from Swanson Middle School last week:
Students told their parents two weeks ago cheerleaders were being called sexual names and having their body parts touched inappropriately during the school day. The Swanson Middle School principal sent out a letter alerting families that cheerleaders were not respected or treated in a proper manner. Some say that was only revealed after the community caught wind of the incident which makes them now question – how many situations are not brought to light?
On Friday, October 22, hundreds of APS students walked out of classrooms to protest sexual assault in district schools — and administrators’ perceived lack of appropriate responses or preventative measures. Disturbingly, APS officials refused to provide FOX 5 DC with any information regarding additional incidents this school year to date:
FOX 5 asked Arlington Public Schools to see how many sexual assault cases have been reported so far this year. They directed us to a Virginia Department of Education website that’s supposed to keep track, but it was last updated in 2017.
