Parent raises concern about Sept. 16 incident involving student; board moves to executive session

A Maple Heights parent told the school board on Oct. 27 that she had filed complaints and a police report after an incident on Sept. 16 involving her son and a district staff member and asked to discuss the matter in private.

"I filed a report with the... I have yet to hear back from anyone," Erica Watts told the board, identifying herself as a parent and giving her address. She said she had filed a police report and sent a letter to the state and that a member of district staff, Chris Henke, had been assigned the case but had not responded. "Can I make a suggestion? Instead of discussing this in public, can we discuss this in executive session? Because he is a young child, and I don't want this out in public," Watts said.

Board leadership agreed and moved the meeting into executive session. President Blackwell said the session would be in executive session with "no action will be taken." The board entered executive session at 7:01 p.m., according to the transcript.

The board did not announce any findings or actions on the public record before moving into executive session. The transcript records the public comment and the board's motion to convene in private; no additional details about the incident were given in open session.

Provenance: Public comment begins with Erica Watts' remarks and continues through the board's roll call to enter executive session (transcript excerpts cited below).