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Case Study: Impatient Parents

Leonard Martinez

June 8th, 2022

EAD-519-O500
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Part 1: Case Analysis

1. Brief summary of the case

o I am an assistant principal responding to an alleged student on campus being

harassed by a student. The female sophomore student states she is receiving

unknown calls, text messages, and is locally being harassed in her math class by a

group of male students. The alleged male student is also someone one who lives

nearby and might have a way to contact the student. A verbal report is made by

the student's angry mother, who comes to the school demanding to meet with the

principal but the principal is gone and on it, the assistant principal is present. The

parent is very irate and is rushed to make her case and leave. The parent is rude

but, in her right, to be as she is angry about what is going on. She Manages to

meet with you and is hurried in her interaction. She gives me the information of

what her daughter is dealing with but does not provide much information or

concrete facts as to state that the harassment is being done by the student they are

accusing. Additionally, the mom is not flexible to how she approaches the

situation, how she communicates, and demands for a solution when the resolve

needs more substantial evidence. There have been attempts by the parent to

contact the math teacher and there is some evidence of bullying taking place in

the classroom. As for text messages, there needs to be more evidence to conclude

that it is that student. The parent refused to meet with the math teacher, daughter,

myself, and herself as she is too busy for follow up and further investigation. I

will follow up to provide a safe learning atmosphere for the student and her

family.  
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2. Identify the issues to be resolved

o A verbal report is made, follow up needs to ensue. Some issues to be resolved is

the lack of communication from teacher to family once a report was made. Now

timing was a little rushed as parent in her communication but we can touch basis

with the teacher about the situations and investigate any other interactions that

have been going on. I must also communicate with the principal about what has

been going on and talk with the dean of the school about what is going on as well.

The student feels uncomfortable in class so we can advise that the dean meet with

the boy about what is going on and what has been alleged. We want to focus on

the harassment going on in class if there is any and follow up about what the

teacher has observed and touch base with the boy(s). In part of the alleged text

message and calls, that would be a civil matter that needs to be assessed. I can

follow up and mention it to the boys but I also need to be careful about blaming

them for something there is no evidence that they are doing. Follow up with the

family needs and communicate what is to happen afterwards. The investigating

and making sure we touch base with the teacher and boys about what are going on

need to happen fast. That way we can follow up with the sophomore girl about

changes and how she feels to ensure if she feels comfortable in school. We might

suggest if this problem persists that we can switch her out of that class if the

student judges that she feels u comfortable. 

3. Stakeholders involved in the issues

o Myself (assistant principal)

o Sophomore girls
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o Parent (mom)

o Principal

o Math teacher 

o Dean 

o Alleged boy (or group of boys) 

o Secretary at front desk

4. One or two existing laws or court rulings that relate to the issues

 Nicole B. v. School District of Philadelphia, et al. (PA Supreme Court 2019)

 Student is bullied based off of race or sex; school failed to intervene and the

bullying escalated to verbal, physical and even sexual harassment. Then

physical assault and rape; court ruled in favor of the student, district was

fined to pay (Education Law Center, 2022)

 Davis v. Monroe County Board of Education

 School failed to stop LaShonda sexual harassment at the hands of another

student. Students felt deprived of educational opportunities and benefits under

Title IX. The student won the case (Davis v. Monroe County Board of

Education, 2022)

5. District policies that relate to the issues

o District Policy: AC - NONDISCRIMINATION / EQUAL OPPORTUNITY

1. “The Board is committed to a policy of nondiscrimination in

relation to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, and

disability.  This policy will prevail in all matters concerning staff

members, students, the public, educational programs and services,

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and individuals with whom the Board does business” (ASBA,

2010)

o District Policy: ACA - SEXUAL HARASSMENT

1. “All individuals associated with this District, including, but not

necessarily limited to, the Governing Board, the administration, the

staff, and students, are expected to conduct themselves at all times

so as to provide an atmosphere free from sexual harassment.

Sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination that violates

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Equal Employment

Opportunity Commission defines "sexual harassment" as

unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other

verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature…” (ASBA, 2010)

6. Possible solutions to the issues

o To find immediate action, we can distance from the alleged student and the young

sophomore girl. We can switch her from her classes to be distanced from the

student if favored by the teacher. Due to the amount of evidence in this report,

there cannot be any actions against the boys that involves discipline other than a

simple talk to see if things simmer down between the boys and the dean. Some

other possible solution can be having the teacher meet with the parent to discuss

what has been going on as observed as well as an apology for not answering

quickly. If needed, we can comply fully with law enforcement to ensure if the

family pursues a further investigation (something we cannot control when it

comes to private cell phone lines and companies) we can ensure the family that
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we can cooperate to seek the solution. As of right now, all we can do without

concrete evidence is spacing for either student according to the cooperation of the

sophomore girl and the teacher. 

7. The solutions chosen to resolve the issues

o I think the best solution would be spacing. If we can have the family meet, it

would help us narrow down a better solution but given the time frame, I would

such as with the irate parents and the student that I plan on switching her

schedule, accommodating to what she already has, and simply switching her to

another teacher with a new class. I’m this process I will ensure the family that this

new move will be transitioned as smoothly as possible. If they do not agree, we

will forcibly switch the other students Schedule or ask the teacher to move around

seats and keep a closer eye on the group of boys and students so that way we can

document in classroom reporting and behavior and if there is an issue we can

further navigate our decision of switching schedules and disciplinary actions

towards these group of boys. As for text messages and calls, if we can get copies

and recordings of them then we can help narrow the evidence to conclude and

help the family determine if this is the student or not. We can suggest to the

family a switching of a new number or further investigation with their phone

companies to narrow the actions to prevent further damage on this girl's social and

educational life. 

8. Action steps (2-5) for implementing each solution, including a timeline for each step

o 6/8 - irate parent makes report, immediately follow up with math teacher.

1. Document everything said and determine further action

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o 6/8 - after school w call the family about what the math teacher said, include them

in the call to talk further, determine possible actions

1. Switch the female student of the class (depending on what the

teacher says)

 If not, we can switch the male student and talk to them about the suspected

actions

 Last solution is spacing in class till we can gather further analyses,

communicate the importance of ethical decisions and substantiated reporting

with evidence 

o 6/9 - student is moved in class or out of class 

o 6/10 - touch basis with family about how things are going and what is the feeling and

emotions of the student 

 Follow up with teacher 

 Continue following up the rest of the week and then once a week

9. Potential moral and legal consequences of each solution

o We can be discriminatory against the boys if we switch them out of the class or

the main boy without substantial evidence 

o The family feel we may not do enough, may seek legal action

1. We must log everything that was said and the evidence brought

forth to the admin about the allegations 

o The student may not like our solutions, she might have a great connection with

the teacher or other students. 

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o Recommended spacing in classroom may not be enough for the parent, we must

continuously communicate the importance of such allegations. 

Part 2: Rationale

 Reflects professional ethics, integrity, and fairness.

 Promotes social justice and ensures that individual student needs inform all aspects of

schooling.

 Promotes collaboration, trust, learning, and high expectations.

With any report no matter who or what judges’ severity, we must act for our leadership. I’m

this, the school's integrity to keep the student safe is at the line as well as a parent is involved and

made a direct report with an irate attitude. We hit an ethical dilemma of making a choice without

substantial evidence so in this case the focus is the student. To act in fairness, all I can focus on,

unless there is more evidence brought forth, is making sure the student is noticed and made safe

in her classroom settings. So, for now, I can suggest a drastic change, due to the lack of

evidence, to have the student moved to another classroom of the same subject and grade level for

her success. If not, we can work together with the teacher to have the student move away from

the student who is allegedly committing these acts and instruct the teacher to take note of what is

going on. Including the usage of other teachers, we will now keep an eye on this student because

of such severe allegations. If the family does not agree, we will ask for flexibility until the family

or ourselves can divide substantial evidence for discipleship action or further school

involvement. We must tell the entire family that this is a severe allegation that is not taken

lightly. Because of this allegation, a substantial body of evidence needs to be provided for each

decision made.
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So, what we are going to aim for is giving the student responsibility for their learning and

their reasonable options by providing them with the flexibility we have given the situation.

Additionally, we are going to work alongside the dean, math teacher and other teachers in that

department, and principal to match remediations to make the student code table in class. We can

subliminally do strategic grouping for the benefit of the student. We can even wait for the second

semester to start to switch schedules without reasoning. Either way we will try our best to

accommodate the students' experience in school. 

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References

Davis v. Monroe County Board of Education. (n.d.). Oyez. Retrieved June 8, 2022, from

https://www.oyez.org/cases/1998/97-843

Glendale Union High School District #205 (GUHSD). (2010). Arizona School Boards

Association. GLENDALE UNION HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT #205: Governing Board

Policies, Regulations and Exhibits.

https://policy.azsba.org/asba/browse/glendalehigh/glendalehigh/GLENDALE

Nicole B. v. School District of Philadelphia, et al. (PA Supreme Court 2019) | Education Law

Center. Elc-pa.org. (2022). https://www.elc-pa.org/cases/nicole-b-v-school-district-of-

philadelphia-et-al-pa-superior-court-2018/.