The Marblehead School Committee unanimously approved a proclamation recognizing April 2025 as Sexual Assault Awareness Month after a presentation from Megan Sweeney, founder of the local advocacy group Power Up.

Sweeney described a multi-stage outreach effort that began with a community convening in October 2023 and led to local proclamations by other town boards and coordination with the Marblehead Police Department and the Essex County Commission on the Status of Women. She urged the schools to expand prevention education, move certain consent and gender-equity programming earlier in the students’ experience and consider student accountability pledges and school-based affinity groups to support survivors and change campus culture.

Why it matters: Committee members said the schools must be proactive in prevention education and supportive of survivors. Speakers and committee members identified professional development for staff, earlier student programming (rather than only senior-year events) and partnerships with the YWCA and local victim services as priorities.

Committee action and next steps: The committee read a proclamation into the record and moved to adopt it; a roll-call vote approved the proclamation 4–0. Members asked staff to circulate resource links in the district newsletter, coordinate with the YWCA on programming timing (potentially earlier than senior year), and consider staff professional development and student affinity opportunities.

Ending: Sweeney said she would follow up with the superintendent and principals on implementation ideas and suggested an accountability pledge template for student outreach.