Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Student Safety topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Mother urges APS board to rethink policies after son's sexual-misconduct report
Summary
At the June 17 APS public forum, Victoria Stanley, a social worker and parent, urged the board to revise policies that she said allow findings that discount patterns of disclosures by multiple students; she called for trauma-informed procedures and greater protections.
Victoria Stanley told the Albuquerque Public Schools Board of Education on June 17 that her fourth-grade son was the first to report a classmate for inappropriate touching and that 10 students later made similar allegations. The district's final report, she said, concluded there was "no evidence" and suggested the similarities could have arisen from "conscious or unconscious collusion." Stanley urged the board to reconsider policies that allow such conclusions.
"No child spoke up for months. Then one child, my son, found the courage to tell the truth. After that, others came forward through appropriate school channels and reported similar experiences," Stanley said. "That is not evidence of collusion, it is evidence of what we know often happens when survivors finally feel safe enough to speak." She framed her plea in trauma-informed practice and called for policy changes so that repeated disclosures are not dismissed.
Earlier in the public forum, Mrs. Janet Sayers urged the board to improve local community engagement by creating district-mailing lists and hosting neighborhood coffees so board members can meet constituents closer to where they live. Dr. Sinello offered a separate historical and ceremonial reflection celebrating Juneteenth and other national observances.
Board members did not take immediate action at the meeting on Stanley's policy request; public comments are heard under the New Mexico Open Meetings Act as input for the board. The speaker asked the board to commit to reviewing investigative standards and to consider trauma-informed approaches that recognize how disclosures can emerge over time.
Next steps: Stanley said her advocacy will continue beyond the meeting if the district does not "examine and modernize" policies. Board staff and the district's student-safety offices would be the responsible parties if the board directs a policy review; no such direction or formal follow-up was recorded in the meeting minutes.
