WARREN, Mich. – The U.S. Department of Education is investigating officials at Warren Consolidated Schools for allegations of sexual assault.
The alleged assault happened in May at Warren Cousino High School. A 15-year-old freshman girl says she was sexually assaulted at the school by a 17-year-old senior boy.
Eventually, the school expelled the girl but not the boy. Her mother, who spoke to us on condition of anonymity, says the school mishandled what happened here from the get-go.
"I was in awe, I was in shock, I was in disbelief," she said. "I could not believe the school district would bully a student with something this severe, this horrific, without a parent present."
The woman is describing what she says was a two-hour interrogation of her daughter after rumors of alleged sexual contact between the two students made it to administrators. The mother was never called until after the interrogation was over.
What happened next? She said it was a pattern of victim shaming and a tone deaf administration. Her daughter was later expelled.
Disgusted by the treatment, she looked for help and found the group Stop Sexual Assault in Schools, SSAIS.org. The organization told this mother how to appeal to the U.S Department of Education with a civil rights complaint.
She filed the paperwork and the feds have decided there's enough in this incident to launch a formal investigation into how the district handled the situation.
The school district would not discuss the decision-making process with Local 4, but did say it is complying with authorities and will turn over all documentation as requested by mid-November.