I am a parent, tragically connected to a crisis that has been unseen and unaddressed for too long. My daughter was sexually assaulted at school, a place where she, like all children, should feel safe, nurtured, and respected. This devastating event was worsened by the fact that the school officials who were supposed to protect my child failed in their duty.

This led me to discover the existence of "qualified immunity" that currently shields school officials from being held accountable for their actions. The doctrine of qualified immunity protects school officials from lawsuits alleging that they violated plaintiffs' rights, only allowing suits where officials violated a “clearly established” statutory or constitutional right. Ultimately, Arkansas law states that schools, their employees, superintendents and district levels hold no legal responsibility to protect our children while on school grounds. However, a lack of accountability can lead to continued negligence and a lack of urgency in creating safer environments for our children.

On December 14th, 2024, I learned from our daughter that she had been sexually assaulted by another 4th grader at Young Elementary in Springdale, Arkansas. My husband and I filed a police report that day and later spoke with Christy Norwood, the school principal at Young on December 16th. We were assured that there would be no contact between our daughter and her aggressor during the police and CPS investigation. We were notified on December 17th that the Young SRO viewed the surveillance videos of the prior week in question and found an interaction between our daughter and her aggressor on the soccer field, but the video quality was poor, making it impossible to make a determination. In that same conversation, Christy Norwood instructed me to speak with our daughter to ensure her understanding that her aggressor had to refrain from any close contact with her, and she also had to refrain from any close contact with him.

After the holiday break, on January 7th, we learned from our daughter that she had been forced to share a special education classroom with her aggressor and she had to walk away to get away from him. We addressed this concern with the principal, only to discover that Christy Norwood was aware since the ELD sessions are held by grade. We demanded that the aggressor be forced to transfer out of Young Elementary while our daughter remained a student there. Christy wasn’t able to make that decision, so she offered to speak with Damon Donell, the executive director of student services at the Springdale Superintendent office. We also spoke with Damon Donnell, only for him to refuse to take any action to protect our daughter. 

We reported these actions to the Springdale Police. The detective who was conducting the investigation agreed with our statements of declaring Second Degree Endangering the Welfare of a Minor. We have searched for, called and emailed attorneys as far as Little Rock, with no avail except for one. We learned in a consultation with an attorney in Ft. Smith that Arkansas public schools have immunity against lawsuits involving cases such as ours. 

As parents, we are willing to fight to our death for our children. Certain laws mandate us to care for and protect our children, or we face legal consequences that could lead to losing parental rights. The educators and school staff expect our children to follow rules at school, or face their own set of consequences that could lead to suspension or expulsion. Those same educators and school staff should be held to a higher standard and harsher level of consequences if they don’t act accordingly to protect our children while they are under their care.

According to Nationwide Children’s, every 8 minutes, child protective services substantiates finds evidence for a claim of child sexual abuse. Our schools should be a refuge from such damaging experiences, not a place where they can be overlooked. The harrowing truth about the failings of our school systems needs to be visible to all so that we can encourage change.

We need to hold our schools and their officials responsible for the safety and dignity of the students. Therefore, we are seeking to end the concept of qualified immunity in public schools, to ensure that every person who is part of the system will honour their role and duty to safeguard our children from harm. It's time to prioritize our children's safety over protecting institutions. Please sign this petition to make schools accountable for protecting each and every student.