Petition created in response to lawsuit against Huron City Schools

Huron, OH – A Change.org petition was created Sunday in response to the federal lawsuit accusing the Huron City School District and its leaders of failing to protect several young female students from sexual harassment and instead protecting the male harasser.

The petition says, “The adults trusted to care for our children have failed to protect them, and this failure has resulted in physical, mental and emotional harm to Huron City School children. This case causes the public to question how the same district administration has handled other sexual harassment and misconduct cases.”

The petition claims that Huron City Schools superintendent Dennis Muratori and McCormick Junior High School principal Chad Carter violated district policies designed to protect students from sexual harassment.

The petition also notes that there was no mention of the lawsuit at the Tuesday, March 16 Huron Board of Education meeting. The lawsuit was filed on Friday, March 12. On this, the petition says, “here has been no statement since the board meeting to assure district students, families and the community that the district is committed to protecting our children. The district’s silence speaks volumes.”

The petition asks that the Huron Board of Education do the following,

• convene a special meeting of the Huron City School Board of Education;
• meet immediately to place district administrators named in the suit on leave, restricting their access to physical and electronic records;
• initiate full administrative and criminal investigations and reviews of district personnel involved, seeking law enforcement assistance from an entity outside Huron Police Department;
• instruct all district personnel to preserve any/all records pertaining to actions or conduct of the district personnel or students involved cases of sexual harassment, and to have those records readily available for investigators;
• review all cases of sexual harassment handled by administration within the last 5 years to determine compliance with district policy governing sexual harassment, and implement disciplinary procedures against administrators who failed to follow district policy;
• immediately implement training to educate board members, staff, students and families about sexual harassment laws, with clear guidance on acceptable and unacceptable behavior.
• establish a means for students, families, district staff and community members to step forward, without fear of retaliation or retribution, to provide information about this and other cases or instances of misconduct against students by district employees including but not limited to teachers, administrative or classified staff, coaches, and volunteers.

As of 2:00PM Monday, 57 people have signed the petition.

To view and/or sign the petition click here.