Boulder Valley School District is doing better. But it’s not good enough. Nowhere is good enough.
BVSD’s work in Title IX education—specifically clarifying how to report sexual assault—is commendable, and the effort that surpasses the initiatives of many school districts.
After the district reached a settlement over a Fairview High School sexual assault case, BVSD began working on Title IX education and implementation.
We want to credit the district for what they are doing. There is no lack of meetings and seminars. We sat through a class meeting last February, a video presentation in November, and there will be three more trainings this semester. There has been more than enough education on how to report.
Still, it’s not enough.
The critical question to ask is: what happens once the report is made?
Explaining how to report is a great step. A first step.
However, what is the incentive to tell a personal and traumatic story if you feel that the perpetrator will face no consequences?
Rape is one of the least reported crimes in America. According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, 63% of assaults are never reported to the police.
Education on how to make reports solves only a portion of that problem. Most of the cases that go unreported are not because victims don’t know how to report, but they don’t know why to report.
Why tell, why suffer even more when little change will occur?
Centaurus High School teacher Michael Ross resigned from his teaching position in May of 2023 as he said BVSD was dismissing and suppressing sexual assault cases in the district.
According to The Warrior Scroll, a Centaurus High School publication, and The Daily Camera, Ross alleged eleven different sexual assault cases that were mishandled, ignored, and suppressed.
Eleven students.
Eleven students who allegedly reported.
Eleven students who did what they were told.
Eleven students who told someone.
Eleven students who were given little to no help in return.
While Ross’s allegations have not been substantiated, we hope the district is doing everything they can behind the scenes to help these victims.
There’s another huge missing message that the district has not made. Simply put, we have never heard someone stand up and say, “Don’t rape. Don’t assault.”
Time and time again, we are told that when we are assaulted we should report it. The key word is When. Nobody is trying to prevent the number of assaults that are occurring every year.
The message has to be made clear that not only is the district encouraging victims to report, but that the district will not tolerate sexual assault.
The primary focus of Title IX education should be that sexual assault is not okay, it is a crime, and it cannot happen.
However, people have no reason to stop. What punishment are they receiving? Even when a victim is willing to tell their story, the district admits that there may not be any punishment for the accused abuser. BVSD’s Title IX coordinator Elizabeth Francis said, “I don’t know if the training is necessarily helping students stop engaging in behavior.”
If only 37% of sexual assaults are ever reported, how many of those perpetrators are ever convicted or punished in any way? The education surrounding sexual assault, not only in BVSD but across the nation, has to emphasize the importance of preventing assault and punishing perpetrators.
Only when assault begins to feel like a crime that is not worth committing—a crime that has real and serious implications—is when we will begin to see real change. The only way that will ever happen is if we begin to see active punishment when victims step forward. We need to see that a report will elicit a serious investigation and that the accused will not merely be reprimanded for the crime that they committed. Right now that just isn’t the case.
Most assaults go unreported.
Most rapists get away with it.
And why stop if you’re never caught?