What's happening in Little Falls Middle School?

Based on what's getting reported in this article, it's a legitimate question to ask what's happening in the Little Falls Middle School. According to the article, "Little Falls parents accused school officials of failing to keep students safe and attempting to 'cover up' a recent incident involving a disabled middle-school student during a school board meeting this week." Further into the article, it's reported that "Superintendent Greg Johnson objected to some community members who have described the incident as a sexual assault. He did, however, admit 'a student in our district took a Snapchat of another student who was in the bathroom.'"

The article continues, quoting Johnson as saying "The picture did include nudity. The student who took the video shared it with a small group of other students. The district became aware of the video right away and took immediate action to report the matter to law enforcement, make the appropriate mandated reports, undertake mitigation efforts, and address student consequences,' he said in a statement shared with Alpha News."

"The boy who held the door shut and sent it out to the most people was only suspended for two days," according to Cassie Fredregill, a Little Falls parent. Fredregill, who attended the meeting, said the board is accusing parents of spreading misinformation and trying to "downplay" the incident.

"From what I understand, two boys took an autistic boy into the bathroom. One held the door shut while the other asked the student to undress from the waist down and perform inappropriate sexual acts, taped it on his cellphone, and sent it out on Snapchat," Fredregill claimed.

According to Fredregill, the autistic child has an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) and should be accompanied by a para at all times while at school. "I believe the school is trying to cover it up because they want everyone to believe that things that happen nationwide aren’t happening in Little Falls. I believe they don’t want the public to know because they’ll have to be held accountable," she said.

At minimum, I'd want to know why the para wasn't with this child. I'd also want to know who's responsible for the child's safety while the child is at school. Finally, I'd want to know what parent gives a 10-year-old a cellphone. Children that age aren't capable of multi-tasking while focusing on school work. This definitely bothers me:

Johnson said he "cannot and will not share any other description of the situation" in order to maintain "the data privacy rights of all involved in this matter. It was handled swiftly, correctly, and with the support of our legal counsel. There was no need to send out a press release or anything like that because there was not any potential for harm beyond the one student victim," he said, repeatedly acknowledging that the disabled boy was a "victim."

I'm thankful that the school contacted law enforcement and that they filled out the right reports. It's more than troubling, though, that they didn't inform the parents with students in the school. They have a right to know of the problem. Assuming that they've eliminated the problem by moving one of the troublemakers to another school district is short-sighted. It might make things safe in Little Falls but will it make things safe in the other school? That's far from a given.