Schools, cellphones a bad mix

It’s reasonable to expect that school personnel assigned to monitor students should be doing just that, not monitoring their personal cellphones.

A lawsuit filed against Rio Rancho Public Schools and several officials at V. Sue Cleveland High School alleges teachers and a coach were paying attention to their phones instead of the students one day last December when a female special education student was led off by a male student to a bathroom where she was coerced into sex. The lawsuit claims: The boy took the girl into the bathroom, locked the door and had her perform sex acts. When she started to cry and wanted to stop she was allowed to go back to the gym, where she told her friend not to report what had happened. The friend did report it to a teacher, but the teacher did not immediately report the incident as required by law. After winter break, the girl told a school social worker about the incident. The girl’s mother was notified and police interviewed the boy, who allegedly admitted to the incident and said he had done it before.

Principal Scott Affentranger initially declined the parents’ request for a full investigation, so the parents contacted the district office. Affentranger is said to have reported that the coach, Scott Ridenour, was on his cellphone “conducting business” at the time of the alleged incident. The principal also reportedly admitted there had been two prior incidents involving students in the same bathroom.

These serious allegations raise questions about the culture at that school. Is “boys will be boys” tolerated? If a cavalier attitude toward student safety and tolerance for predatory actions is found, the district must take strong remedial action.

While awaiting court resolution, the district should take a hard look at how its staff oversees and interacts with students. While it’s at it, the district should consider stronger limits on distracting cellphone use by staff members when on school assignments.