Original subtitles

[ Keyboard clacking ]

♪♪

-We started dating my freshman year.

I was 14.

He was 15.

♪♪

He messaged me that he had brought a gun to school...

and he was going to shoot himself

unless I met him after class.

He took me to the woods.

And that's when he raped me.

♪♪

I talked to the school resource officer.

He didn't take a police report.

I talked to the principal.

I was threatened with suspension.

♪♪

If it had just been me, I think I could move on.

But seeing that it wasn't just me, it's still happening,

I have to do something about it.

Like, I just have to.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

-Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools

teaches more than 140,000 students

across 180 schools in North Carolina.

For the past year, current and former students

have accused the district of suppressing reports

that students were sexually assaulting one another

on campus.

These accusers say that administrators

even retaliated against students who tried to speak up.

Now they're trying to hold the district accountable.

They've collected over a dozen anonymous accounts

from CMS students who say that they, too,

were sexually assaulted or harassed at school.

-Okay. I got the timeline. -Timeline.

-Who has nice handwriting?

-When I looked at the timeline for the first time --

I knew there was a lot. -Mm-hmm.

-But I just didn't expect it to be so extensive and so long.

-We didn't even put all of the anonymous people on there.

-So, October 22, 2014.

And then you'll write "Nikki Wombwell"

above in the blue.

-Ooh, that's a hard date to hear.

-Nikki Wombwell was a sophomore

at Myers Park High School in 2014

when she says she was raped

in the woods surrounding the school

by a classmate.

-We started dating my freshman year.

I was 14. He was 15.

He messaged me that he had brought a gun to school...

and he was going to shoot himself

unless I met him after class.

He took me to the woods, and that's when he raped me.

♪♪

At first, I was just quiet

and stopped dressing up to go to school

and stopped caring about things.

And then eventually I overcompensated.

I did everything I possibly could

to not have a single second to think about it.

♪♪

Every single one of these that we know of

happened early fall semester.

It's called "the red zone" in college

because it's most common to happen

right when school's starting.

♪♪

-Ooh.

-Need a hug?

-[ Sniffles ] Oh, my God.

♪♪

-Students and former students from at least four CMS schools

have said that they were sexually harassed or assaulted.

At Myers Park High School, at least four people have said

that they were sexually assaulted

in or around the school,

only to be met with indifference or even aggression

from officials when they tried to report it.

-I'm gonna go to the bathroom really fast.

Are they open? Do you know?

-Yeah, they're open. -Okay.

♪♪

-Serena Evans says that, as a 15-year-old in 2016,

she was raped before a tennis match by a classmate.

♪♪

-My perpetrator cornered me,

forced me into the bathroom that he said no one used,

locked me in the stall,

assaulted me and then raped me and then left me in there.

October 25th was literally the day

that changed my entire life.

♪♪

I don't think I'll ever forget that date.

Like, ever.

Um, I went from being, like...

...a fairly, you know, happy,

healthy, athletic freshman

to being like, "Absolutely not.

I will not step foot in the car."

Like, "You will not be driving me to school."

Like, "I will not be going to school."

I think part of me thought, like,

who's to say this won't happen again?

♪♪

-In 2018, a woman known only as Jane Doe in court papers

sued CMS, accusing administrators

of covering up her 2015 sexual assault.

In 2019, Nikki Wombwell sued, too,

but under a pseudonym.

In June 2021,

Wombwell publicly accused CMS of covering up her rape.

Serena Evans came forward shortly afterward.

The CMS superintendent assembled a task force

that was supposed to reform how schools handled sexual assault.

But the accusations of sexual misconduct didn't stop.

In fact, they spread.

In December, the task force finally issued recommendations,

urging the district to further educate students

about consequences for sexual misconduct

and to better protect them from retaliation.

It's not clear what, if anything,

the district has done with those recommendations,

and it's repeatedly reassigned officials

accused of covering up misconduct

to other jobs in the district.

-Myself and Serena were both threatened with suspension

if we continued with an investigation

and our perpetrators were found not guilty.

CMS and the rest of the country can and must do better. Thanks.

[ Cheers and applause ]

-It has been eight months since I first publicly

came forward with my story.

Since then, there have been multiple

other Myers Park victims who have come forward.

We have not seen or heard CMS

take accountability for their actions.

What we have heard are excuses and false promises.

CMS, perhaps your strategy

is continuing to wait for us to go away.

So...how's that working so far?

[ Applause ]

♪♪

One of my favorite trophies is this one in the corner

because, like, the top of it --

Like, the tennis ball is kind of squishy

and you can, like, turn it, so it's, like,

really kind of cool. [ Laughs ]

This was 1st, Southerns.

-You won Southerns. -Yeah.

-That's what this is. Oh.

Didn't realize that that was, like, you dominated

the entire, like, three states.

-No, it's nine states. -Oh. Nine states.

-And she had only been playing for nine months.

-Wow. You remember how it felt to win Southerns?

-Yeah. I cried a lot. [ Laughs ]

Um...

♪♪

For the last probably 11 years,

tennis has basically been my whole life.

It was not only something that I enjoyed, but it was something

that helped me also, physically and mentally.

-Do you feel like what happened at Myers Park

took tennis from you?

-I think my perpetrator took tennis away from me.

Um, and I think the administration at Myers Park

helped my perpetrator take tennis away from me.

♪♪

-Three days after the alleged attack,

Evans says she told her mom, Kay Mayes, about it.

They filed a police report,

and Mayes e-mailed Myers Park principal

Mark Bosco, asking to talk immediately.

She says he didn't respond.

Days later, Evans and Mayes met with Tyson Jeffus,

a Myers Park assistant principal.

-The first meeting we had with him,

he kind of started it out with, like,

"I just want you to know that

because you were in the boys' bathroom,

if you decide to go through with an investigation,

you'll be the one that is suspended

and the one that gets in trouble."

I looked at my mom, and I was like --

Looked back at him, and I was like, "What?

Like, what do you mean?"

And he said, "Well, you were in the boys' bathroom.

Like, you broke school rules.

Like, you know that's not allowed."

And I was like -- [Scoffs] "You're kidding me."

I was like, "Even though it wasn't by choice?"

And he just looked at me and he was like,

"Yeah, that's against school rules."

Not only did he threaten me with suspension

and that suspension would permanently be

on my school record

and damage my chances of getting into college,

but he also kept making sure that we understood that, like,

we couldn't talk about this with anyone but him.

That's a parallel to basically what my rapist told me.

And to have your rapist and your school

tell you virtually the same thing...

is like...

It's honestly, like, mind-blowing.

-Four months later, Evans says that Tyson Jeffus asked her

to write down her account of the alleged sexual assault.

-"So, after school that day, I went to the locker room

in the basement of the gym because I was going to

get dressed for our regional tennis match.

I was surprised to see him standing there.

And when he said hello, I said hi back just to be polite.

He was very pushy and intense.

The more he talked and the closer he got,

the more scared I felt.

I froze up.

I didn't know what he was capable of.

I was terrified that he would hit me or grab me or choke me."

♪♪

"He said something about having to do it

before he turned 18 over the weekend."

♪♪

"He told me to go with him

to a boys' bathroom that no one uses.

When we got to the bathroom, he led me into one of the stalls

and locked the door.

I didn't want to think about this stuff again,

but I'm willing to if it will make him

get the punishment he deserves."

-Evans says she never learned

why she needed to write this account

or what came of it.

♪♪

VICE News obtained documents from both Tyson Jeffus

and the student who Evans says raped her.

In one of these documents,

Jeffus confirms that he talked to Mayes

and that Evans alleged sexual assault.

In another, the student says he and Evans went to a bathroom

where they were feeling on each other,

but he denies that it went further.

He says he didn't force her or grab her in any way.

He was never charged with sexually assaulting Evans.

♪♪

In the months after Evans' allegation,

Mayes continued to reach out to Myers Park staff.

How many e-mails do you think you sent

to Myers Park officials?

-I think somewhere between 50 and 60, maybe.

-And of those 50 and 60 e-mails,

how many of them got a real response?

-Regarding the rape? None. None.

-Mayes says she lost hope in Myers Park.

Seven months after she first reached out,

she sent one final e-mail to Principal Bosco.

-"Perhaps the best way for you to acquire some sense of empathy

and some understanding from a victim's and parent's view

is for you to begin to think about it

as if the exact same thing

is going to happen to your daughter.

Last thing she is expecting in the whole wide world...

♪♪

[ Sniffles ]

[ Exhales heavily ]

...is to get raped at school."

-This is you pouring your heart out.

What did he say in response?

-I never got a response.

-We reached out to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools,

Mark Bosco, Tyson Jeffus,

and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department

about Evans' and Mayes' allegations.

No one responded.

A district spokesperson previously told VICE News

that CMS can't talk about student discipline

or cases involving ongoing investigation,

pending or settled litigation,

or otherwise confidential student or staff data.

Evans says she ultimately

moved across Charlotte to go to another school.

-There was no sympathy.

There was no, like, "I'm sorry this happened,"

or, you know, like, "We'll look into it," or...

like, "We'll talk to him."

He had no consequences.

He was allowed to continue playing football

and continue extracurriculars

and continue just being a normal kid.

Why is his life more important than mine?

♪♪

-The concept that it wasn't rape

because it wasn't the first time it had happened

made me feel really stupid.

It just really messes up how you think about it

when you're told that it is your fault.

♪♪

♪♪

-Myers Park High School is enormous.

It sits on 62 acres and has 13 buildings.

For years, a Charlotte-Mecklenburg

police officer served the entire school --

Bradley Leak.

At least three former students

say that they reported to Officer Leak

that they had been sexually assaulted

in the woods surrounding Myers Park.

Nikki Wombwell is one of them.

-I talked to the school resource officer,

and he told me that it wasn't rape

because I had a prior relationship with the student

and it wasn't the first time

that he and I had done sexual activity together,

so he said it didn't count as rape.

And then I went and talked to the principal,

and he said that we could move forward with an investigation

but just to let me know

that if they move forward in investigation

and they decide

that he was innocent and I was lying

that I could be suspended for having had sex on campus.

The concept that it wasn't rape

because it wasn't the first time it had happened

made me feel really stupid that I kept falling for it

because that was kind of the implication, is, like,

"Oh, if this has really been assault this whole time,

if he really has been threatening you this whole time,

how could you keep letting this happen?"

And I still feel like that a lot because of how he said it.

It just really messes up how you think about it

when you're told that it is your fault.

-Wombwell is one of at least two women

who have sued CMS and Officer Leak

over their handling of sexual-assault allegations.

In court documents, Officer Leak said

Wombwell reported having sex in the woods

after her ex-boyfriend threatened to harm himself

if she didn't.

Leak also said that he told Principal Bosco

that there was not sufficient evidence of a crime.

A judge dismissed Wombwell's lawsuit against Officer Leak

because, in part,

Wombwell didn't prove that Leak obstructed justice

or that he was deliberately indifferent to her.

In court documents, Bosco said that he offered

Wombwell a chance to make a formal complaint

or to take further action, and she turned it down.

He denied that he'd done anything to discourage her.

Wombwell settled her lawsuit with CMS and Mark Bosco in 2021.

They paid her $50,000, but no one admitted guilt.

Wombwell says the student who sexually assaulted her

has never been charged.

♪♪

-I didn't have too much faith in CMS

when I first started the lawsuit

just because of the way that my case had been handled,

but I was hoping that maybe if the higher-ups at CMS

saw what was happening that that would help

hold the people directly responsible for my case,

like the school resource officer and the principal accountable.

But it didn't end up that way.

♪♪

-Another former Myers Park student says she, too,

was raped in the woods around campus in 2014

and reported it to Leak and a Myers Park administrator.

She asked to remain anonymous.

-I confided in my friend what had happened,

and they told me, like, "That's not okay. That's an assault."

We went to the school resource officer and reported it.

Officer Leak said he believed me

but that basically

there was nothing he could really do for me.

He stressed that because I had waited too long

and there was no physical evidence

that there was nothing they could really do

and that it wasn't really worth the police looking into it

and that it could just come back that they didn't believe me

or that I'd get in trouble somehow, too,

and kind of echoed what I was later told

by the assistant principal, is that the most they could do

was give me a protective order where he was told

to stay away from me on campus.

But even Officer Leak and the assistant principal

kind of stressed that they couldn't be

everywhere on campus at once because it was so big,

so there's no way the protective order

would be, like, foolproof.

So nothing really ever happened after I reported it.

-This former student told the same story

in a legal declaration that she swore to under oath.

Officer Bradley Leak was deposed in connection

to the allegations of sexual assault at Myers Park.

And he said in this deposition

that the only reports of sexual assault

that came out of the woods were the ones

made by Nikki Wombwell and Jane Doe,

who is a woman who is still in litigation

with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools.

Are you saying that Bradley Leak is lying?

-Yes, because I definitely reported to him

and had a witness there and we met in his office,

and there's no way to get around

that there were other people that came forward, at least me.

-Bradley Leak retired in 2018.

We sent his lawyer a detailed list of questions

for this story.

That lawyer responded,

saying cases should be tried in courtrooms, not newsrooms.

In August 2021,

weeks after Wombwell and Evans came forward,

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools suspended principal Mark Bosco.

But after an investigation,

Bosco was reassigned to a new job in the district

with a salary of more than $150,000.

We sent a list of questions to CMS and Bosco for this story.

They didn't get back to us,

but a CMS spokesperson previously told us

that the district cannot provide information

about specific personnel matters,

such as employee suspensions.

♪♪

-Sometimes the way that CMS treated me

and the way that CMS reacted

feels worse than the rape itself.

♪♪

♪♪

-When a student reports sexual harassment or assault,

there's a federal civil rights law

that dictates what should happen next --

Title IX.

Title IX protects against sex discrimination in education.

It requires that schools support students

who allege sexual misconduct,

such as by separating accused perpetrators from their victims.

It also blocks schools from retaliating against students

who report misconduct.

CMS accusers say the district violated Title IX.

-Unfortunately, it isn't uncommon

for schools to violate students' Title IX rights

and to sweep sexual harassment under the rug.

That is far too common of an occurrence.

-Shiwali Patel worked for the Department of Education's

Office of Civil Rights

and has spent years tracking Title IX violations.

Politicians have zeroed in

on how Title IX plays out on college campuses,

but there's been relatively little focus

on Title IX in K-12 schools.

In the most recent data, the Department of Education

recorded nearly 15,000 incidents of sexual violence

at K-12 schools in just one school year.

-It's been like that for decades,

and yet it's still under-reported,

so schools should really be doing what they can

to create the culture and environment

where students feel safe and like they would be supported

if they came forward, not punished.

-Do you think that Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools

should be investigated for violating Title IX?

-Yes.

When schools punish survivors who come forward,

they're sending a strong message

to the students, to the community

that not only will they tolerate sexual harassment,

but that it's not safe to come forward as a survivor

who's actively seeking support and help from the school.

-When a school doesn't follow Title IX,

the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights

is supposed to make them.

The Office of Civil Rights

investigated CMS at least three times

between 2015 and 2017.

As of February,

the district remained under federal monitoring.

The Department of Education didn't respond

to requests for comment on this story.

In court documents, the CMS Board of Education

said that it has effective policies

to prevent sexual harassment and discrimination

and to ensure prompt investigation of complaints.

What makes Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools unusual?

-See, the unfortunate reality is that I don't think

their schools are that unusual.

A lot of students who come forward

are punished by their schools because they're disbelieved,

because their school then,

in deciding not to believe the survivor,

will punish them under a school's sex code,

might punish them for a "false report."

These are all ways that survivors have been punished

after they've experienced sexual violence

because their schools have not supported them.

-What is the impact of a school

failing to uphold a student's Title IX rights?

-It can have devastating consequences,

and we've seen that over and over again.

Not only are survivors facing emotional distress and trauma,

but sometimes they're actually retraumatized by the schools.

♪♪

-Hi. -Hi...

-How are you?

-I am not doing good.

-Okay.

-I had my first panic attack

in, like, a long time after the protest.

-You knew that this would be hard.

-Yeah. I just don't think I realized how hard maybe.

-Yep.

-Like, my PTSD, like, symptoms and stuff

are, like, really bad right now.

-Okay.

-And I'm, like, more depressed.

There's times that I just don't want to,

like, be going through, like, the pain

that I'm going through right now.

♪♪

-Evans says she spends about six hours each week

in various therapies.

-Let's see. My migraines are slightly worse.

Um, I kind of had, like, a couple steps backwards,

honestly, with, like, emotional stuff.

Yesterday morning was, like, really rough for me.

-Okay. -Um...

♪♪

[ Sighs ]

-Is the way that Myers Park responded to your report

a trauma that's coming out for you a lot this week?

-Yes.

The way CMS responded

is definitely a continuing kind of thing I'm dealing with.

If something happens to you, you know, on a school campus

and you go to, you know,

those that are supposed to protect you,

you know, your administrators,

and they tell you that it's still your fault --

And their reaction really messed with my head.

CMS, you know, violated me. I mean, they did violate me.

Not physically, but it was a violation.

Sometimes the way that CMS treated me

and the way that CMS reacted is --

sometimes feels worse than the rape itself.

♪♪

-I come across as a very put-together person,

a very, um, strong person,

and a lot of people think that means that I'm not struggling.

But it's still there.

And I still...

take medication.

I still wake up from nightmares

and, like, I have to be held by my fiancé.

-How much of that trauma do you think stems from the way

that you were treated by Myers Park

when you tried to report?

♪♪

-I would say that the way

that the aftermath happened

affected my healing just as much,

if not more than the actual incidents.

♪♪

-CMS, how many more lives have to be shattered?!

How much louder do we have to be?!

[ Cheers and applause ]

♪♪

♪♪

-We're heading to a school board meeting

where Nikki, Serena, and others will be sharing their stories.

They believe this is their best chance to get

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools to listen to them.

♪♪

The CMS Board of Education

oversees district policy, curriculum, and budget.

Wombwell and Evans hoped that by sharing their accounts

and those of anonymous CMS students,

the board would pay attention to Title IX.

-We have begun the hiring process

for approximately 53 campus security associates.

We have not found any firearms,

but some of the things that we are finding

are vapes, tasers....

-Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools superintendent Earnest Winston

wasn't in charge of the district when Evans and Wombwell

say they reported being sexually assaulted.

But he has led the district's response,

or lack thereof, to the controversy.

Winston has a boss -- the school board,

led by chairperson Elyse Dashew.

-So, we're going to move on to requests from the public.

And as you know, I will read the rules, which are as follows.

Each speaker may speak on any topic of their choice

except for individual student matters

or specific personnel matters.

Personal attacks will not be allowed.

Profanity or other inappropriate language will not be allowed.

And the board reserves the right to cut off any speaker

who violates these rules.

So, we've got Serena Evans.

-Alright. So, my name is Serena Evans.

And I was raped on the campus

of Myers Park High School in 2016.

There is a recurring theme in our CMS community --

a lack of accountability and blatant disregard

for the care and safety of victims of harassment,

sexual assault, and rape on our CMS campuses.

It really amazes me that some of the administrators

who are shoving our rapes and assaults under the rug

have children of their own

and, more specifically, daughters.

If it was your own child,

how would you want her rape handled?

CMS, how many more innocent victims

is it going to take?

How many more lives have to be shattered?!

How much louder do we have to be?!

-Thank you, Miss Evans.

[ Cheers and applause ]

♪♪

-My name is Nikki Wombwell.

When I was 15 years old and a sophomore

at Myers Park High School,

I was raped by an ex-boyfriend in the woods by campus

after he told me he had brought a gun to school.

When I reported to school the next day,

I was largely met with indifference.

I was then told by the principal

that if I pursued an investigation

and the student was found not guilty,

I could be suspended for having had sex on campus.

This principal has since been reassigned

to an administrative role within the district

that previously did not exist and pays nearly $150,000.

When you delay accountability or meaningful change,

it sends a clear message --

you don't care.

Please show us you care.

[ Applause ]

♪♪

-Good evening. Tonight I'll be sharing a story

from a CMS graduate from the class of 2019.

"I was raped my freshman year of high school.

I reported it to the school because he went there, too.

They did nothing for me."

-I am also reading a story from a current CMS student.

"Over the course of these five years,

I have continuously been a victim

of sexual harassment and violence.

Even now, after I've reported everything,

nothing has happened.

I am not silent. I have been silenced."

[ Applause ]

-Okay. Alright. Jonathan Fox.

-This is another story from a CMS --

-Oh, yeah, I'm sorry.

People sign up to speak for themselves.

So anybody else who has their own testimonial

or feedback to share...

[ Applause ]

-Absolutely. Absolutely.

Is anybody else here to speak for themselves?

-May I continue?

-No. No.

We do have rules

that we kind of have to follow here.

But we're...

Okay. Alright. We'll break all the rules tonight.

And please, please know

that my e-mail address

and my phone number are open if anyone needs...

-No. No. -...to reach out to me directly.

-Thank you.

This is a reading from a graduate of 2019.

"When I was in the sixth grade,

three male students in my grade

sexually harassed me every day on the ride home

from school on the bus."

♪♪

-The extent to which people will go to silence survivors

over protecting or doing anything to help survivors

is absolutely crazy.

Their job is to protect their students.

To know they care so little --

They care so much about their reputation

and so little about their students.

-I mean, I just don't understand

how anyone wouldn't be able to understand

why it might be hard for someone who was assaulted...

sexually assaulted of any kind, or raped

to, like, be able to tell their story.

Like, I just don't understand

why anyone would not understand that.

You know? Like...

It took me five years

to get to the point to be able to speak up.

Like, if it wasn't for my mom,

I might have just dropped out of school.

You know, like, if she hadn't been there advocating for me,

then I would have had to continue going to Myers Park

and I honestly think that I either would have dropped out

or, you know, I might have...

just not wanted to be here anymore.

-"Be here anymore," like...die?

-Yeah.

-I don't think I can talk anymore. I'm sorry.

-That's okay. Yeah.

-[ Sobbing ]

♪♪

-I was talking to the women who were sharing their stories.

Frankly, they were devastated.

-Hmm. Hm.

I hate that.

I do.

♪♪

♪♪

-We requested interviews

with both the school district and the school board.

Board chairperson Elyse Dashew agreed to speak,

but the district said that the district and the board

were "one team"

and Dashew would speak for them.

I understand you haven't done another on-camera interview

with anybody about these allegations.

So I wanted to ask, why talk to us?

Why do this interview?

-Whew. Um...

I think it's -- For me, personally,

it's really important to be able to talk about these issues,

and it's really frustrating

with the role that I have, being on the school board,

there are just too many questions that I can't answer.

I mean, I'm a woman.

And I've got my own experiences,

you know, so it's very real what I'm hearing from girls.

-Tell me about Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools'

Title IX practices and protocols.

-Those sorts of things,

you're best to get that information from the district.

-I did reach out to the district to ask them for an interview,

and they told me that the district

and the school board are "one team" and so that

you were the best person to put these questions to.

-Oh, that's interesting.

[ Chuckles ]

Alright. Um, yeah. No.

I mean, I can --

You know, I've told you, like, what I can speak to,

but there's a clear delineation between

what the district and staff do

and what school board does.

-So, tonight people came to you and they asked you

to find accountability for something

that you're saying the district should be held accountable for.

I guess I'm wondering, what is the point, then,

of coming to the school board and asking for help?

-It is always good

to bring concerns and issues

and even ideas

about how to do things better to us.

But anything action-related in the schoolhouse,

that's going to be driven by staff.

-I guess I'm confused, then,

how people can expect the school board

to hold the school district accountable.

-If -- When there are serious --

You know, when you've got serious issues in a district,

you do hold your staff accountable.

-So I did want to talk about some of the personnel

changes in the district.

You know, Mark Bosco, who is the former Myers Park principal,

he was reassigned to a new job in the district.

He still has a six-figure salary.

Tyson Jeffus, a Myers Park assistant principal,

is still the school's assistant principal.

The former principal and assistant principal

at Hawthorne Academy

are still working for the district.

If those people did nothing wrong, why were they reassigned?

-That's one of those things where it's not the board --

It's not what the school board does.

It's just not our job.

-There are some very strong allegations that are being made

about Charlotte-Mecklenburg School officials

covering up sexual-assault reports.

What actions have been taken to address those allegations?

-See, that's -- that's making it look like I'm the person

who would take those actions,

which would really muddy the waters, so...

-So if it's not the school board,

who are they supposed to be going to?

-You know, we're listening.

I can't speak for the superintendent, you know,

but he's taken a lot of actions.

-I was talking to the women who were sharing their stories,

and they felt that the attempt to not have some people speak

was silencing them.

-Hm. -Why did you do that?

-Yeah, so, basically, Charlie reminded me we have this rule.

And then when the students pointed out, like,

they really needed to read these, and so...

...I threw the rule away tonight.

-I talked to them afterward, and they did not feel supported.

They were in tears.

I mean, frankly, they were devastated.

-Hm.

I hate that.

I do.

-I guess they're not asking for feelings or even sympathy.

I think they're asking for change.

♪♪

-It's a school board meeting.

I don't know if they expected to come and...

You know.

I mean, there's -- Like I said,

the superintendent has this task-force report.

I can't speak for that. I just can't.

I'm proud of the kids for speaking up.

And I get that there's some kids

who are, you know...

They're really unhappy.

-Well. -And on that note...

-Thank you for sitting down with us.

-I can read you the e-mail. Give me one second.

"It's my understanding that you'll attend

the Board of Education meeting Tuesday evening

and interview Chair Dashew afterwards.

As we are one team,

that will serve as the district's opportunity

to respond to questions of importance to your audience.

Thank you."

-The superintendent's task force is not the board's task force.

-What I'm getting out of this conversation with Chair Dashew

is that the board is not the group to go to

if you're looking for change; the district is.

And then the district won't speak to me.

-I can't answer why the superintendent

won't speak to you.

At the end of the day, the board will act

once the superintendent makes a recommendation.

Now, what they will do with that information,

I can't promise what that action will be.

Nor can she. She's one of nine.

It's frustrating because...

you watch someone like Serena Evans

and that guttural reaction, it's tough.

I'm a father of two daughters.

I get it. It's hard to watch. It's painful.

I know how much this board wants everyone to be safe

in our schools.

-Do you think people are safe in your schools?

-I send my daughter to these schools.

Do I think we're perfect? No.

This is a nationwide societal issue.

It's not unique to CMS.

-Six weeks after our interview, the CMS Board of Education

fired Superintendent Earnest Winston.

An investigation uncovered, in part,

concerns about his handling of Title IX.

[ Toy squeaking ]

-Luca!

[ Toy squeaking ]

-Evans is now suing CMS. -[ Laughs ]

-She says she won't settle and is determined to go to trial.

-Okay! Bring it back!

-In the wake of everything that happened

at the school board meeting, do you plan

to keep going back to those meetings?

-I don't think that me going back to any board meetings

is going to change the minds of the board members.

I don't think it's going to make CMS

just out of nowhere decide to help us out.

I mean, if they were gonna help us, they would have.

Now we need to go higher up

than CMS, than the Board of Education.

We want the Department of Education

to investigate CMS as a whole.

♪♪

-I think people don't like to admit

that sexual assaults happen

in middle and high schools or even elementary schools,

especially because not only is that admitting

that this happens to children,

but also admitting that young people,

mostly young boys or men,

are capable of this sort of thing.

♪♪

Rape culture is so prevalent in our society

that a 15-year-old boy

is capable of raping his ex-girlfriend.

♪♪

There's a lot of ugly truths.

You have to look in the mirror if you admit that.

♪♪