Sara Rubin here, to report that the kids are alright—in spite of repeated failures of the grown-ups around them. I am speaking specifically about Carmel Unified School District.
Last year at this time the district was in a time of turmoil and scandal, but a lot of what was going on was quite opaque. There was lots of turnover at the very top, with the departures of two principals, two assistant principals, the public information officer, the superintendent and the board president who abruptly resigned during a board meeting. After all that, the administration and board went silent, and it left members of the CUSD community (and the local press) asking the question: What is going on in Carmel Unified School District?
I set out to answer that question, and the result of my year-long investigation is the cover story in this week’s issue of the Weekly.
The answer comes down to a culture of denial and of silence. A theme that emerged is that repeatedly, when faced with allegations of sexual misconduct (by students or by staff), parents and students and staff say there was a failure to respond adequately and thoroughly. While this is not true in every case, what many people described to me is a pervasive pressure not to rock the boat and potentially damage the district’s reputation for academic excellence.
I’d like to hope things are improving. But when I asked the new board president, Jason Remynse, and Superintendent Sharon Ofek about it, they seemed to think the district has checked the boxes.
Ofek notes that there are new trainings and more trainings than required for teachers, staff and board members. Remynse seemed surprised that I was asking about sexual misconduct at all.
“The district takes that very seriously,” he says. “I don’t know anybody here that doesn’t take that seriously…I am surprised that there is any confusion about that—in this day and age, everybody knows what sexual harassment is and what not to do.”
But even board members themselves seem to not always know what to do. Just last year, Remynse’s colleague on the board (and lifelong mentor) Karl Pallastrini made a flippant joke about sexual abuse from the dais during a board meeting. I think the leaders themselves still have things to learn.
If there’s anyone they might learn it from, it’s students. If there’s a bright spot in my reporting, it was interviews with current and former Carmel High School students. These kids are wise beyond their years, and passionate about improving their world.
Senior Maggie Short, for example, is president of the Our Voices Club. Next year, she is going to London to study abroad; she’s already gotten permission from her program to create a sexual assault awareness club.
Short says it’s a good thing that students have continued to raise the alarm on sexual misconduct, so that the adults will listen: “If we didn’t make a big deal out of it, it would just get swept under the rug,” she says. “Every district has something they can work on. Carmel’s [issues have become] so public, it is forcing change. I think that is really good. Change is just a part of life.”
I agree. In reading about young people like Short, Eva West, Marcus Michie and other voices in the story, I hope you join me in feeling hopeful for a new generation to help lead those changes for a safer world.