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Parents and community members urge West Irondequoit to strengthen Title IX response after alleged assaults
Summary
Two public commenters told the board the district failed to protect students after sexual-assault allegations and urged mandatory trauma-informed training, survivor-centered protocols, and accountability including extracurricular suspensions for perpetrators.
Two members of the public used the board’s public-comment time Thursday to urge the West Irondequoit Central School District to overhaul how it handles sexual-assault allegations involving students.
Heather Trowb, speaking during the board’s public-comment period, said the district failed a student “when a student is sexually assaulted while in the care of their school” and urged the board to implement mandatory trauma-informed training for all staff, bring district Title IX procedures into line with current law, and adopt “a transparent survivor-centered protocol for handling sexual-assault allegations.” She also urged clear, enforceable consequences: “Participation in extracurricular activities is a privilege. It is not a right. When a student inflicts harm of this magnitude, they forfeit the privilege to represent this school until accountability has been served and real healing has begun,” Trowb said.
Charles Trump followed, saying the district’s existing code of conduct and athletic code lack effective enforcement and that previous public statements promising safety plans and reviews have not produced meaningful change. Trump challenged the district’s citation of FERPA as a reason not to share information with victims, saying federal case law and Title IX requirements allow disclosure to protect victims and alleging the district is being litigated in federal court over Title IX compliance. He pressed the board to adopt up-to-date policies and remove athletes from extracurricular participation when they are found responsible for sexual assault.
Neither speaker proposed a specific board motion during public comment; the board did not respond during the meeting but accepted the comments under its stated protocol that the board will not answer comments during the session. The commenters said they will continue to return to future meetings until the district adopts policies and practices they described as survivor-centered and enforceable.
What the district discussed in public session The board’s public-comment procedure was read aloud before speakers: comments limited to three minutes, no personnel matters discussed in public, and no response from the board during the session. The record shows the two commenters used their full allotted time and asked for immediate policy changes.
