A Central Texas school’s report concluded a boy sexually harassed a girl on school grounds. An education specialist sounded a statewide call to action, warning this isn’t an isolated incident but an exploding problem in schools.
Specialist Aileen Blachowski of Texas Education 911 emphasized the need to “make school safe again.” Texas Education 911 is a grassroots organization that serves parents responding to problems previously thought unthinkable in schools.
One of those problems involves minor-on-minor harassment or even assault. Shocking to even think about, this is a growing issue. In fact, it is exploding. “This is becoming a huge problem,” Blachowski said. “On a global scale, we should be outraged at the idea that we even ever have to have this conversation. We’re talking about very young children that even the court system recognizes don’t have the mens rea or the criminal mind of intent to cause intentional harm like this.”
An example of this happened just north of Austin.
Georgetown ISD
Dr. Jennifer Hinson just arrived at Georgetown ISD. The district announced she’d be the new principal of Everette L. Williams Elementary for the 2024-2025 school year. She came from 202 miles north, having previously been a principal at Prosper ISD.
Her short time at Georgetown has been eventful. On November 22, she wrote a report on an incident involving two fourth graders. She found “there is sufficient evidence” that a fourth-grade male student had “fondled” a female schoolmate, “which is a form of sexual assault, when he touched Complainant on the butt while in line for lunch.” During the investigation, the male student admitted to touching the female student’s backside.
Hinson also found “sufficient evidence” the boy repeatedly attempted “to kiss the Complainant, grab her bottom, grab her chest, hug her from behind, and told her he will hump her when they are older.”
Hinson wrote this in a Title IX Harassment Determination of Responsibility. Title IX is a federal law that protects individuals from sex-based discrimination. Most of the time, when parents are trying to address an issue at school, they will go to the federal court system based on this law.
In this situation, Georgetown ISD conducted a Title IX investigation. Attorney Marc Chavez, representing the male student, told Texas Scorecard his clients are appealing the decision. “We’ve submitted a legitimate avenue of appeal and we are currently awaiting a decision,” he said.
Blachowski said school districts don’t conduct Title IX investigations as often as they should.
“Many parents that we talk to, who have kids in a similar situation, are never told about Title IX. School districts have sometimes mentioned it but have not followed through with the procedures,” she said. “Georgetown gets a thumbs up for following through with this procedure. It’s really important.”
Carolyn Confer is the female student’s mother. Confer alleged her daughter had been assaulted, as covered in an October Texas Scorecard report.
The district acted. But Blachowski found they didn’t act flawlessly.
The Investigation
Due to the age of the students in question, pseudonyms are used in this article. “Rachel” is used for Confer’s daughter, and “Roger” is used for the male student. Their real names have been redacted from the Title IX Determination.
Hinson’s report painted disturbing details.
She wrote of a recording that showed “other students holding [Roger] back while he attempted to lunge toward [Rachel].” According to witness testimony, Rachel told Roger no. But “he would persist in this behavior.” Hinson found this “sufficient to make it more likely than not that the Respondent attempted to touch her even when directed to stop.”
According to the report, Rachel had asked others to “protect her” from Roger.
Blachowski said this isn’t a problem unique to Georgetown ISD. “There’s so much of this kind of assaultive behavior going on in school,” she said. “Whether the kids are young or even older, it’s just putting too much traumatic stress on the school and the people in the system. Something’s got to change.”
Georgetown ISD
It has happened outside of school, too. In April 2022, local police arrested two Georgetown ISD middle school students. Earlier, parents and students alleged the students had sexually assaulted another middle school student off-campus. They protested that the district had not acted to protect the victim and hold the alleged assailants accountable.
Back to Confer’s story. Hinson’s report found that Rachel and Roger’s relationship wasn’t always hostile.
“The evidence suggests that at least some of these hugs were welcome and consensual because video footage shows the Complainant actively participating in at least some hugs,” Hinson wrote. “However, there is sufficient evidence to find some of these hugs were unwelcome.”
What potentially motivated Roger to act this way? The Title IX letter provided a possible reason. Roger told the investigator he previously had a crush on Rachel.
According to the letter, his actions spiraled downward.
The earliest incident was in Fall 2022, going into Spring 2023. Hinson wrote Roger “made mean comments and became jealous” if Rachel played with other male students at recess.
On March 23, 2023, Roger hit Rachel in the back with a rock. He called her a “pathetic loser.”
Then, during the 2023-2024 school year, he bullied Rachel. The harassment followed.
Consequences
Hinson recommended Roger spend 20 school days at Georgetown ISD’s “alternative education program” in the 2024-2025 school year. She also recommended he take part in “social skills instruction.” The goal of that would be to teach him “how to appropriately communicate with others whom he finds attractive or desires.”
Confer wasn’t satisfied. She believes Roger should be expelled. “Per [GISD] code of conduct, this is a violation and should have resulted in expulsion,” she wrote.
Blachowski, however, believes moving Roger to another school district puts other children at risk. “It provides probably some minor relief for the victim. But this isn’t really an adequate solution,” she said.
As these cases stack up, Blachowski said we don’t have systems to deal with them in education. “Our school districts are put in a very difficult position here. We have compulsory attendance laws, but these very young perpetrators, ages nine and under, they can’t be removed to a discipline alternative education program,” she said. “There isn’t an alternate schooling environment for them. There’s not a juvenile justice environment for them.”
She also believes we need to find out what happened to Roger. “Both parties need to be brought in for a forensic interview. There’s probably something going on in the world of the assailant. I don’t believe a child comes up with this kind of stuff on their own,” Blachowski said. “According to law enforcement officers I have spoken with about these issues, we are looking at two victims. It’s very unnatural for a very young child like this to be so obsessively focused on sexually assaultive actions toward another student.”
Such situations involving such young minors reveal two parties who need healing. “They both need rehabilitative assistance. They need help. They need to be made whole,” Blachowski said. “Most of this work needs to happen with families surrounding these children, essentially, with good parenting.”
Georgetown ISD didn’t respond when asked if they had conducted such interviews.
Where does this leave Rachel and Roger today? They’re not attending the same school right now, according to the Title IX letter. That could change when they graduate into middle and high school. “It is recommended that an offer for separate schools still be in effect but not required as the respondent will have served consequences for his actions and has been separated from the complainant for over a year by that time,” Hinson wrote.
Confer is concerned about this. “I have the option to move my child to another school in the District, but yet why should my child be the one to leave her friends and be punished as the victim?” she asked.
The Need for Solutions
The Title IX letter is a chapter in a nearly nine-month-long affair. Confer filed a complaint on April 23, 2024. The investigative report finished on August 5. Texas Scorecard reported Confer’s allegations on October 15. Completion of the determination letter was pushed to November 22 due to requests by both the complainant and respondent.
The situation is ongoing as Chavez, Roger’s attorney, works through the appeals process.
Blachowski objected to the investigation lasting seven months. “For children who are dealing with assaultive behaviors in school or who are committing assaultive behaviors, seven months is an eternity,” she said. “It’s almost the entire school year. That’s too long, and we need really tight timelines to deal with things like this.”
As noted earlier, what happened at Georgetown ISD is part of a disturbing pattern across the board. “There’s plenty of research out there on this increase in child-on-child sexual assaults,” Blachowski said. “We really need to be looking deeply into this, what those root cause problems are, and how to relieve the schools of having to deal with this.”
What is to be done about “assaultive students?” Blachowski said they can’t be allowed to hurt their fellow students or even teachers. “We need to relieve the schools of that kind of pressure and tension and find ways to make the school safe again,” she said. “If that means that parents have to participate in the consequences of their children’s actions, then so be it.”
The systems active in Texas aren’t designed to deal with this problem. New solutions are needed. A proper response will require a group effort—a task force that brings together specialists across multiple disciplines. “I would really challenge mental and behavioral health champions, law enforcement and education champions, parent advocates, [and] victim advocates to come forward and form a task force that can look into this problem and help find solutions that are dignifying for both the victim and the assailant,” Blachowski said. “They both need help here, and neither one of them are really getting the appropriate help that they need through this Title IX process.”
Blachowki gave a very clear reason for action. “Every parent sends their child to school with the expectation that they’re going to be safe at school, and every child deserves to be safe at school,” she said.
Texas Scorecard asked Georgetown ISD for comment. The district gave the following reply:
“The deadline for both parties to respond and submit an appeal has been extended to December 12, 2024, per the request of the respondent. As an ongoing matter, Georgetown ISD is unable to comment further.”
This publication will continue to examine education in the state. If you or anyone you know has information regarding assault or harassment in Texas’ government schools, please contact our tip line: scorecardtips@protonmail.com.
Source Document
For this article, the following document was reviewed:
Georgetown ISD Title IX Harassment Determination of Responsibility
This article contains highlights from this document. Links to exhibits within the document were also redacted, as the links could potentially lead to documentation that would reveal the names of the minors involved. Citizens wishing to conduct a deep dive should click the link above.
