GDS Student Newspaper posts about the horrible incident

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From student newspaper article:

“In the email, the family said Metropolitan Police detectives were involved in the case and found the allegations to be credible. The family said that the police department needed more evidence to make an arrest.”

That same article quoting head of school:

“Contrary to the information shared with you earlier, we can report that neither T&M (the independent investigator) nor the MPD found evidence during their investigations to substantiate the allegations.”

The fact that neither their independent investigator nor MPD found evidence is NOT contrary to what the family’s email said!!! The family is reporting that the police found the child credible but would have needed more evidence to make an arrest. Shaw really screwed up his response. His response showed no compassion for a family’s suffering—clearly they are suffering regardless of what specifically happened (I believe some type of assault happened). The response from GDS is seriously lacking and grossly dismissive.

GDS parent (and lawyer) here. Exactly this! I keep harping on this to my husband. GDS sent a follow up email today that said the same thing. Lack of evidence to substantiate doesn't mean it didn't happen. In many of these cases, it's just he said/she said (or here, he said/he said). Whether it is deemed to have happened turns only on the credibility of the allegation. There is no other evidence. I want to see the police report to see if the allegation was indeed deemed credible as the family's email said.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“To be clear, according to the MPD, the case was thoroughly investigated and there is no evidence to substantiate the allegations put forth by the former family.”

Shameful and a disgrace. MPD is notorious for not believing survivors of violence. I hope this gets the attention of the Mayor and the city. Children don’t make this stuff up. My thoughts are with the family for their brave decision to come forward in a very public way.

Oh come on. Finding an allegation credible means that it could have possibly happened. What the school said was that MPD didn’t find evidence that they could move forward with. With no evidence, what is the school or MPD suppose to do? Expel every male student in the middle school at the time? Even interviewing every student seems too invasive (As a parent I would not want my kid to be interviewed if there was no evidence linking them to this). It’s pretty clear something happened to this poor kid, but also clear it wasn’t likely a masked rape in the 5 minutes between classes in a high use bathroom that can only be locked with a key.

Completely agree.

Someone here is lying. The family says that MPD found the child's allegations to be credible; GDS says they did not. So which is it? That part should be easy to discern and should be made public.

[Anonymous]

“ While the allegation was unsubstantiated following multiple, thorough investigations including by law enforcement and an independent third-party expert, this situation cuts to the core of our values as a school.”

The new email from GDS is still doubting the credibility of the survivor —- using terms like “unsubstantiated”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:“ While the allegation was unsubstantiated following multiple, thorough investigations including by law enforcement and an independent third-party expert, this situation cuts to the core of our values as a school.”

The new email from GDS is still doubting the credibility of the survivor —- using terms like “unsubstantiated”

Does GDS have a culture that makes such assault possible in the middle school? Can any parent comment on it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:“ While the allegation was unsubstantiated following multiple, thorough investigations including by law enforcement and an independent third-party expert, this situation cuts to the core of our values as a school.”

The new email from GDS is still doubting the credibility of the survivor —- using terms like “unsubstantiated”

yes--it almost seems worse than the first email in how they claim that there is absolutely zero evidence of anything and imply the child is lying. Horrible things can happen anywhere, it's how GDS is reacting that is the most alarming.

[Anonymous]

Some of you guys in this thread need to learn how to use the quote button properly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“ While the allegation was unsubstantiated following multiple, thorough investigations including by law enforcement and an independent third-party expert, this situation cuts to the core of our values as a school.”

The new email from GDS is still doubting the credibility of the survivor —- using terms like “unsubstantiated”

Does GDS have a culture that makes such assault possible in the middle school? Can any parent comment on it?

No

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“ While the allegation was unsubstantiated following multiple, thorough investigations including by law enforcement and an independent third-party expert, this situation cuts to the core of our values as a school.”

The new email from GDS is still doubting the credibility of the survivor —- using terms like “unsubstantiated”

yes--it almost seems worse than the first email in how they claim that there is absolutely zero evidence of anything and imply the child is lying. Horrible things can happen anywhere, it's how GDS is reacting that is the most alarming.

I'm sorry, but I did not get that sense at all. And the word "unsubstantiated" is the appropriate word here. Because an allegation is unsubstantiated does not mean that the event did not happen, merely that there is a lack of evidence to corroborate the child's report that the incident happened at GDS by two students.
I am sure that more information will trickle out to the public over the upcoming days, but I truly believe that GDS would not allow two students who have raped another student to remain enrolled, if only for the liability of another incident occurring. The school has a lot of legal expertise they could tap into, and I am positive that they were advised -- if there was sufficient evidence to show that the students presented a threat -- to remove the students from the campus immediately. The fact that the school has not done so -- at least to the extent that we are aware -- suggests that there really is not enough evidence to act upon the evidence presented by the victim.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:GDS parent here.

No parent that we know despises Russell. We think he's been a strong leader of the school.

You’re not friends with everyone. He’s been solely concerned about his image and fundraising since the day he set foot in GDS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“ While the allegation was unsubstantiated following multiple, thorough investigations including by law enforcement and an independent third-party expert, this situation cuts to the core of our values as a school.”

The new email from GDS is still doubting the credibility of the survivor —- using terms like “unsubstantiated”

yes--it almost seems worse than the first email in how they claim that there is absolutely zero evidence of anything and imply the child is lying. Horrible things can happen anywhere, it's how GDS is reacting that is the most alarming.

I'm sorry, but I did not get that sense at all. And the word "unsubstantiated" is the appropriate word here. Because an allegation is unsubstantiated does not mean that the event did not happen, merely that there is a lack of evidence to corroborate the child's report that the incident happened at GDS by two students.
I am sure that more information will trickle out to the public over the upcoming days, but I truly believe that GDS would not allow two students who have raped another student to remain enrolled, if only for the liability of another incident occurring. The school has a lot of legal expertise they could tap into, and I am positive that they were advised -- if there was sufficient evidence to show that the students presented a threat -- to remove the students from the campus immediately. The fact that the school has not done so -- at least to the extent that we are aware -- suggests that there really is not enough evidence to act upon the evidence presented by the victim.

The fact that the school has not released their independent report to the victim’s family is troubling. Why not release it to the family? How they found there was no evidence, the process, is all material to the family of the 11 year old. If anything, in getting a sense of the depth of inquiry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“ While the allegation was unsubstantiated following multiple, thorough investigations including by law enforcement and an independent third-party expert, this situation cuts to the core of our values as a school.”

The new email from GDS is still doubting the credibility of the survivor —- using terms like “unsubstantiated”

yes--it almost seems worse than the first email in how they claim that there is absolutely zero evidence of anything and imply the child is lying. Horrible things can happen anywhere, it's how GDS is reacting that is the most alarming.

I'm sorry, but I did not get that sense at all. And the word "unsubstantiated" is the appropriate word here. Because an allegation is unsubstantiated does not mean that the event did not happen, merely that there is a lack of evidence to corroborate the child's report that the incident happened at GDS by two students.
I am sure that more information will trickle out to the public over the upcoming days, but I truly believe that GDS would not allow two students who have raped another student to remain enrolled, if only for the liability of another incident occurring. The school has a lot of legal expertise they could tap into, and I am positive that they were advised -- if there was sufficient evidence to show that the students presented a threat -- to remove the students from the campus immediately. The fact that the school has not done so -- at least to the extent that we are aware -- suggests that there really is not enough evidence to act upon the evidence presented by the victim.

GDS parent here and completely disagree with this. Because of the lack of evidence to pursue prosecution the school would have opened itself up to all sorts of issues if they'd expelled the other kids involved, and so they chose not to take any action against them. Based on what I have heard from my MS child and other parents something did happen - and all of my empathy is with the family of the victim.

And I agree with the PP that today's email just piled on. What a gross response from the school and Russell.

[Anonymous]

I don’t understand wanting the school to do a thorough investigation but then dismissing that investigation when it didn’t find evidence to support the accusation.

IMO though gds could do better. When there’s an allegation like this and you can’t substantiate it, or even conclude that it was false (like if they did review hallway cameras but they’re not going to tell us what they saw), I think you need to tell the community what you’re going to do to prevent the same thing from happening in the future.

They could have:

1) talked about the hallway cameras they have or will have going forward around bathroom entrances and the entrances to other private areas.

2) reminded the community of the reporting options available to students and families

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“ While the allegation was unsubstantiated following multiple, thorough investigations including by law enforcement and an independent third-party expert, this situation cuts to the core of our values as a school.”

The new email from GDS is still doubting the credibility of the survivor —- using terms like “unsubstantiated”

yes--it almost seems worse than the first email in how they claim that there is absolutely zero evidence of anything and imply the child is lying. Horrible things can happen anywhere, it's how GDS is reacting that is the most alarming.

I'm sorry, but I did not get that sense at all. And the word "unsubstantiated" is the appropriate word here. Because an allegation is unsubstantiated does not mean that the event did not happen, merely that there is a lack of evidence to corroborate the child's report that the incident happened at GDS by two students.
I am sure that more information will trickle out to the public over the upcoming days, but I truly believe that GDS would not allow two students who have raped another student to remain enrolled, if only for the liability of another incident occurring. The school has a lot of legal expertise they could tap into, and I am positive that they were advised -- if there was sufficient evidence to show that the students presented a threat -- to remove the students from the campus immediately. The fact that the school has not done so -- at least to the extent that we are aware -- suggests that there really is not enough evidence to act upon the evidence presented by the victim.

GDS parent here and completely disagree with this. Because of the lack of evidence to pursue prosecution the school would have opened itself up to all sorts of issues if they'd expelled the other kids involved, and so they chose not to take any action against them. Based on what I have heard from my MS child and other parents something did happen - and all of my empathy is with the family of the victim.

And I agree with the PP that today's email just piled on. What a gross response from the school and Russell.

So you agree that there's lack of evidence? The school does not need evidence for a criminal case to expel a student. The bar to expel a student is far lower. The fact that even this low bar has not been met is telling. I doubt the parents of the (potentially) expelled students would sue because they risk the possibility of GDS releasing the information available, which while not reaching the level of a crime, is likely pretty damning.
Also, has anyone actually confirmed that even the police report wasn't shared with the family? This makes no sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand wanting the school to do a thorough investigation but then dismissing that investigation when it didn’t find evidence to support the accusation.

IMO though gds could do better. When there’s an allegation like this and you can’t substantiate it, or even conclude that it was false (like if they did review hallway cameras but they’re not going to tell us what they saw), I think you need to tell the community what you’re going to do to prevent the same thing from happening in the future.

They could have:

1) talked about the hallway cameras they have or will have going forward around bathroom entrances and the entrances to other private areas.

2) reminded the community of the reporting options available to students and families

You are clearly NOT a member of the GDS family because #2 was reported in the email sent to us today.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand wanting the school to do a thorough investigation but then dismissing that investigation when it didn’t find evidence to support the accusation.

IMO though gds could do better. When there’s an allegation like this and you can’t substantiate it, or even conclude that it was false (like if they did review hallway cameras but they’re not going to tell us what they saw), I think you need to tell the community what you’re going to do to prevent the same thing from happening in the future.

They could have:

1) talked about the hallway cameras they have or will have going forward around bathroom entrances and the entrances to other private areas.

2) reminded the community of the reporting options available to students and families

You are clearly NOT a member of the GDS family because #2 was reported in the email sent to us today.

Sure, that email was sent only once the family stepped forward publicly and forced their hand yesterday. Until then, there was no communication from the school to the community about this, a fact that is outrageous!