Task force pushes changes
Parent group wants update to sexual misconduct policy
A Dawson School parent group is pushing the private, K-12 school in Lafayette to change its practices and policies around responding to sexual misconduct.
The Dawson Parent Task Force, comprised of 11 parents, alumni and former faculty, started in June with a goal of finding ways to make Dawson safer for students and faculty following the arrest of a former Dawson School music teacher, according to the group.
Since then, according to the group, school community members have shared additional incidents involving sexual misconduct between a staff member and a student, between a staff member and another staff member, and between two students. Information about the additional incidents was included in a letter sent to Dawson families earlier this month and provided anonymously to the Camera.
The parent group believes there’s been “a long-standing history of minimizing sexual assault at Dawson, isolating victims and then potentially covering up.”
According to the group, members have received about 20 reports from parents, faculty and alumni detailing sexual misconduct incidents that took place in the past five years. Those reports included information about five more additional faculty members accused of sexual assault or misconduct who “have quietly departed Dawson without any third-party investigations and without parents having been informed,” according to the group.
The former music teacher, Da’jon Tyrik James, is charged with two counts of sexual assault on a child by someone in a position of trust and unlawful sexual contact. The family of one of the students he reportedly sexually abused also filed a lawsuit against him and the school.
The lawsuit cited “the school’s callous disregard
for the safety and well-being of its students — which appears to fit a long-standing pattern of covering up and minimizing sexual assault on its campus and marginalizing the victims of those assaults.”
After the girl’s parents reported James’ behavior to the school, the school “allowed James to resign” but, according to the complaint, did not contact police. The lawsuit also claims the school sent an email announcing James’ resignation, but did not state the reason for his departure despite the fact that some students were still taking private lessons from him.
The Dawson parent group, in a written statement, said the lack of communication by the school around the allegations against James is a main concern. Group members declined to be interviewed individually.
“We are concerned about what happens when our school quietly parts ways with faculty and then fails to inform our community when a faculty member has been credibly accused of sexual assault and is subsequently criminally charged,” according to the statement. “In the days, weeks and months after Da’jon James ‘resigned’ from Dawson, he continued to have access to our children.”
In a letter to families, the Dawson parent group urged people to attend two virtual town hall discussions held earlier this month and to sign a petition first posted in October. Along with signing the petition, the group is asking Dawson families to contact the board and head of school and talk to other parents about the concerns.
“We can’t do this without more parent support,” the group said in a written statement. “We need to broaden the conversation, and ultimately we want an informed, engaged parent body around this critical issue.”
According to the group, efforts over several months to collaborate with Head of School George Moore and the Dawson board “have been ignored or denied.”
The school’s 10-member board includes executives of the Alexander Dawson Foundation, located in Las Vegas, and local parents and alumni, according to the school’s website.
Philip Erwin, the lawyer for the Alexander Dawson Foundation’s executive committee, said in a written statement that Dawson School “meets or exceeds state and national standards, including on student safety, and responds appropriately to allegations of sexual misconduct.”
“Indeed, while the Dawson School gives serious consideration to constructive feedback from the community, any suggestion that the Dawson School does not safeguard against sexual misconduct or comply with its legal and ethical obligations in response to such allegations is simply not accurate,” he wrote. “Nevertheless, like any educational institution, the Dawson School continues to assess its policies and procedures, look for areas of improvement and make changes where appropriate.”
He added that the school is limited in its ability to share information because of the pending criminal and civil cases involving James.
“We look forward to engaging with the community about these important issues once the criminal and civil proceedings are resolved,” he wrote.
The parent group is asking Dawson’s board to commit to prioritizing student safety over the next three years, including forming a committee to oversee prevention and response work. By the end of May, that committee should review best practices and create a plan that aligns with national best practices.
Issues the group has identified include that there’s no anonymous reporting mechanism, with all reporting and interviewing going through the head of school. That creates a conflict of interest, the group alleges, and is problematic because the head of school isn’t an expert in conducting interviews with those who have experienced sexual violence.
Other issues identified include a lack of training for students and staff around reporting incidents, as well as a failure to use an external investigator for serious reports. The group noted the school in October did agree to make some “incremental” changes, including fingerprinting faculty members.
The group used a prevention and response framework from National Association of Independent Schools, as well as the perspective of consultant Michelle Petersen, to make its recommendations. General recommendations include improving hiring practices, enhancing faculty training and student education, establishing transparent communication, and effectively supporting survivors of sexual misconduct.