MIAMI COUNTY — A Miami East Local Schools Board of Education meeting on Wednesday got heated as parents shared their concerns about a sexual assault investigation involving a district employee.
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The Miami County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the allegations, which were first brought to the board months ago.
>>RELATED: School district investigating reports of employee sexually assaulting student
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In October, a mother in the district reported that an employee had been touching her child in a way that made them uncomfortable.
The situation has prompted significant concern among community members.
The board stated that both the district and the sheriff’s office investigations into these allegations could take weeks or months to complete.
“We know this situation has caused great concern and that concern is understandable,” School board president Amanda Howell said.
Each parent got 3 minutes to speak during the meeting.
Many parents questioned the board’s willingness to be transparent with families and some made claims about other employees in the district.
“These students have had to wander and walk into that school every day with the anxiety wandering if their abuser would be sitting in that classroom waiting for them,” one parent said.
Hillary Jackson, a parental rights advocate, traveled from Cleveland to attend the meeting.
Jackson said she intended to draw wider attention to the district.
“I am a parental rights advocate who drove from across the state to make this district famous,” Jackson said.
However, not all parents present agreed on the approach.
The last parent to speak at the meeting expressed trust in the board’s processes.
During the meeting, deputies had to separate two men who became loud with each other.
The mother who first raised the accusations spoke for a second time at the meeting.
She later told News Center 7 that while she felt heard by the community in the room, she was unsure if the board as a whole was listening.
She added that what she brought up at this meeting had been previously raised, and nothing was done.
Investigations by both the Miami East School District and the Miami County Sheriff’s Office are ongoing.
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