Our message to Cole Valley

A joint statement from the support group, drafted by dozens of students, parents, and staff

(If you’ve been involved with Cole Valley and would like to be represented on this joint statement, email info@colevalleyspeaks.com, and we’ll add you as a signatory or include you in a tally of unnamed supporters.)

Why a joint statement?

On February 13th, Cameron Crow published a blog post reflecting on his Cole Valley experiences and what he considered the harmful aspects of the education system. After dozens of people messaged Cameron privately telling him their personal Cole Valley stories, he created a support group on Facebook to be a safe place for people to have these conversations. Soon after, people began joining Cameron for recorded interviews, and several decided to pursue creating a documentary film. The group created a website, called Cole Valley Speaks, to serve as the home of all the public content from the support group.

Cameron explains that the original blog post’s objective was to get some strong feelings off his chest, to increase awareness of what Cole Valley was like when he was there, and to help prospective parents consider this point of view when deciding whether it’s a good fit for their children. But, as the support group grew and dozens of horrifying stories have been told, this has become more than just Cameron’s story. It’s all of our stories. We, the joint authors and signatories of this statement, now consider ourselves a movement, and we want to prevent the negative experiences that we’ve had or are currently having at Cole Valley.

Our mission is to engage with Cole Valley in a public dialogue and collaborate on our mutual goal of making the school a safe and healthy place to learn for any student. This document was written by dozens of students, parents, and staff, and is meant to help explain to Cole Valley what we experienced, the problems we see, what we hope for students, and provide suggestions for improvements in each area. This isn’t an ultimatum, but the beginning of a discussion. We want to help.

This document is thorough and, admittedly, verbose. We preferred to err on the side of being wordy and include as many perspectives from our group as possible rather than to prioritize and censor. For that reason, below you will find a table of contents showing the various sections and topics of the statement. It may be helpful to use your browser’s “Find” feature to skip to a section of interest.

Table of Contents

• Sexuality Section
• Sex Education and Sexism
• Sexual Harassment and Assault
• LGBTQIA+ Students
• Culture Section
• Racism
• Bullying
• Mental Health
• Organizational Overreach
• Science and Evolution
• Administration Section
• Addressing Crises
• Transparency and Oversight
• Signatories

Sexuality Section

Summary

The topic of sex encompasses several of the issues that our community members have disclosed in the course of this collective processing. More specifically, sex education, sexual and gender politics, and the treatment of the LGBTQIA+ community are all areas that we think should be reassessed by Cole Valley.

In this section, the Cole Valley Support Group has the following policy recommendations:

• Teach sex education in a way that emphasizes information and deemphasizes shame. This includes teaching about consent.
• Confront sexual harassment of female students in a way that doesn’t blame girls for unwanted male attention.
• Develop a transparent, consistent and fair system for reporting sexual misconduct.
• Ensure that students who are the LGBTQIA+ spectrum feel safe and welcome in the Cole Valley environment.

The rationale for these policy arguments are accompanied by quotes of former Cole Valley students below. The reasoning has been discussed by our community, which includes Christians, at length. We were sensitive to Cole Valley’s worldviews on certain topics and are not expecting Cole Valley to betray their values. We present these recommendations in good faith and hope that Cole Valley will receive them in kind.

Sex Education and Sexism

Quotations and Examples

“They explained a tiny bit about what the STDs were…They didn’t explain exactly how we could get them. They never even told us what condoms were. I was told that in the boy’s health class, they spent one day on sex education. Us girls spent about a week going over the STDs, taking vocabulary tests on them….But the teacher never explained what things go where or how to prevent pregnancy/STDs. It was clearly abstinence only….They never even explained the ramifications of oral sex. I didn’t know you could get oral STDs until I watched an episode of ER. All in all, they believe that if we don’t know about it, it can’t hurt us. They clearly either don’t anticipate, or ignore the fact that teenagers are curious and will find ways to figure everything out for themselves.”

“CONSENT NEEDS TO BE TAUGHT AT COLE VALLEY!!! Consent can be taught in the context of abstinence and purity. Some people don’t want to kiss before they are married, some people are okay with kissing but only to a point….A girl or guy should be able to say “no” at any point. Even if it’s something they’ve done before with you in the past, they still have the right to say no….”

“Like others have said, sexism was absolutely rampant. The number of times girls got in trouble for their outfits and how many times the girls were shamed because “we might make our brothers stumble” — ridiculous. My senior year we weren’t even allowed to wear our cheer uniforms on game days during school, we had to wear our warm ups because administration didn’t want us wearing our (OVERLY LONG) skirts in class. But it was okay during games, kicking, flipping, etc? God forbid you sit in a desk in that uniform though. On the cheer note also, boys weren’t allowed to be on the cheer squad. When I freaked out about that I was told, and I quote “we can’t allow guys on the cheer team because they will look up the girl’s skirts and you girls insist on having skirts” oh okay… yeah sure.”

“I feel like there wasn’t enough of equal treatment for girls and guys. The girls were always shamed for everything and the guys got a free pass. I don’t hate men obviously, but really? This is not how to raise young, impressionable girls. Especially that BS candy bar thing. The more I remember that the more pissed off I get.”

Students Felt or Experienced

• That they did not get information about STIs, pregnancy, or birth control/contraception
• That they did not get adequate education on consent and the resultant gender politics.
• Shame about their sexuality and confusion about what it means.

Students Should Feel

• That they get pragmatic, accurate information from authorities they can trust
• Compassionate counseling about their bodies and about transitioning into adulthood.

Proposed Solutions

• Teach sex education in a way that emphasizes information and deemphasizes shame. This includes teaching about consent.

Sexual Harassment and Assault

Quotations and Examples

“Sexual harassment/assault is a pretty big problem at Cole Valley. I would hear stories from people saying that they were sexually harassed by some boys. The thing is, it’s always the girls getting harassed, not the boys. So much for the dress code protecting the boy’s minds. There are guys that will grope girls under the desk, ask for blow jobs in their cars. Some have even gone so far as to try to rape girls in locker rooms/bathrooms. This is a pretty big issue that is constantly ignored. The teachers all say that if we pray for them, they will stop. No… they won’t….But if teachers would acknowledge that this stuff goes on and actually have a heart for the students, maybe they could make a difference. The harassed need a safe place to work through their problems, not have new ones created for them.”

“…The blame always fell on the girls for tempting them! I haven’t heard about even a single instance of sexual harassment at that school that actually went properly punished.”

“The ‘he said, she said’ response given to the women who have shared stories of sexual assault/abuse is an effort to save face for the institution.”

“Another teacher mentioned that her friend had deserved to be raped because her husband had told her not to go out with her friends that night. If she had just listened to her husband she wouldn’t have been raped.”

“I was raped when I was 12 years old by an older student. There were no charges pressed… the student left on his own terms the next year. The Vice Principal at the time told me and my parents it would be a waste of time to press charges because it was a “he said, she said” situation and “no one would believe me.” I had to see him at school everyday for a year. Don’t worry, I was encouraged to come pray with the Vice Principal whenever I was feeling upset or scared. He then encouraged me to go tell a “female teacher I trusted.” So I did, and she acted very weird towards me about it and just told me she’d pray for me. It was so uncomfortable and weird. I’ll never forget the first day I passed him in the hall, (he just glared at me, nothing extreme) I physically got ill. I threw up, and I was so confused as to why, I didn’t understand why my body would respond like that. I had never had anxiety like that before in my life. I ran to my brothers class and asked to speak to him as I had a full blown panic attack, sobbing and he just held me. What was a 15 year old boy supposed to do to help his sister other than do that. He told me to go talk to the Vice Principal and I did, he prayed for me and then sent me back to class. The hardest thing for me to comprehend with this was the fact that I felt so ashamed that I had lost my virginity. Everyone at that school always said how important it was, and how your future husband expects you to wait and is praying for you to do so. How could something, that had been beaten into my head just be pushed to the side, when the circumstances were out of my control. It made me question everything, how come it didn’t matter if it was taken from me on another man’s terms?”

“I was sexually assaulted by another student on our DC trip. The student was then “expelled” for a couple months and allowed back in the following year. I missed most of the end of that school year, but when I did attend I would see him hanging around the school grounds and the coffee shop with his friends. When I initially confided in the only female teacher on the trip, she told me that because he and I were friends (and that I had a crush on him) I must have wanted it. And that’s what I needed to tell people. I was secluded that night in her hotel room, they searched my phone, possessions and person. i was not even able to call my parents. For what reason?…

One afternoon I had to stay after hours to catch up on my grades and [name redacted] confronted me. He said that he in fact did not hate me; he said he was disgusted by me and my choices. My “friends”, the administrators and my roommates on the trip said that it was not worth it to pursue this in court and that i would ruin the boy’s life if I did. I was told God would never forgive me, that He was repulsed. That I was a slut. That It was better if I just “went away”. I lost my “friends” and my dignity. I stopped eating. I cut off my hair. I was self harming. I started drinking and using prescription drugs to forget. The school finally came to the decision to cut me a break on my schoolwork because I was so behind… As long as I did not make the situation public. I was also forced to spend the remainder of my lunches in 1:1 detention with administration. Odd, and unnecessary in my opinion. I was 14, barely 15 maybe.”

“I once went to someone from administration I thought I could trust. My boyfriend at the time (first boyfriend) was abusive and used to hit me, smack me around, choke me, and emotionally abuse me. I didn’t know any better really, because women are supposed to serve men, or at least that’s what I was told. But one day I finally spoke out about it my senior year. I was met with “well you don’t have any bruises” — sure, I didn’t at the time. I was basically told it was my word against his. I felt like I wasn’t taken seriously. I stayed in that relationship for 4 years because I didn’t know any better and when I asked adults I looked up to for help I was shrugged at. I thought I was was beneath him because men are superior in relationships. Even when that man holds a loaded gun to your face. The girls were always taught how to serve their husbands and be “good wives.”…

Students Felt or Experienced

• Boys were treated like they are wild animals when it comes to sex. They were taught to deny and repress their natural sexual urges to avoid being overcome with lust.
• Girls were taught to never give a boy the slightest reason to “stumble”. This line of reasoning makes the bad behaviors of males seem natural, sometimes inevitable, while any behavior of females that could possibly have contributed to the male’s bad behavior is considered a conscious choice of a sinful mind. When the dynamic is framed this way, it blames victims of unwanted sexual advances and worse.
• That they were not listened to when they reported sexual harassment.
• That they were not believed when they reported sexual assault.
• That as females they were blamed for the bad behavior of their fellow male students.
• Administrators appeared to be too concerned about making waves and ruining someone’s reputation and not concerned enough about a scholastic environment that is free from fear of sexual violence or harassment.

Students Should Feel

• They are equally valued and important, regardless of their gender.
• Boys need to be responsible for their own actions and it is not the girls responsibility to control the way they behave.
• They understand what consent is, it is always required, and girls should never tolerate uncomfortable advances.
• That they can always approach a staff member to ask for help without risking judgement or adverse consequences.

Proposed Solutions

• Confront sexual harassment of female students in a way that doesn’t blame girls for unwanted male attention.
• Develop a transparent, consistent and fair system for reporting sexual misconduct.
• Accusations of sexual assault should never be handled internally by one faculty or administration member. The procedure should be formal and transparent.
• Cole Valley should strive to implement best practices and evidence based policies. They should be proactive, when possible, in addressing student safety.

LGBTQIA+ Students

Quotations and Examples

“Junior and Senior year I was very afraid of people finding out I was gay. At that time I had been told that being gay was very much like people having a ‘demon inside them, forcing them to like the same gender’. And because of this, there were many ideals of ‘praying the gay away’. My main concern was being told to go to a straight-camp which I distinctly remember one teacher mentioning it for ‘those who felt those urges’. I felt like I couldn’t talk to anyone for fear of people even thinking I might be gay. I felt very suicidal because of this, and even attempted it once with medication (which thankfully i immediately vomited and was safe). This last incident happened because of a certain student in one of my bible classes. We were starting debates and it was whether or not gay marriage should be legal. One student (before anyone was even assigned a side for the debate) repeatedly insisted that ‘all gays need to be shot, hung, and castratrated’. This student seemed to possibly have some mental health issues, so the first 6 times were ignored by everyone. Eventually someone told him to shut up. I felt so sick that my life was such an abomination…[it] felt like it would be better if I didn’t exist. I did find out later that at least 2 other students were in the LGBT+ community in that class that felt very similarly. That same teacher left the next year, because they came clean that they didn’t see eye to eye with that ideology, especially having a family member who is/was gay. I found after all this, all of my best friends that I hung out with every weekend were LGBT+. Even though I felt alone, the entire time my best friends were exactly the same as me, which brought me closer to them after high school. My family eventually came around, and most people didn’t even care that I was gay. I thought the whole world believed everything Cole Valley did, so I didn’t feel like i had a place in it… Life is so much better knowing that being who I am is not horrible, that it’s not harmful to others, and that I am not an abomination.”

“It took until I was nineteen, out of CVC for three years, for me to ask a lesbian roommate what the T stood for in LGBT. That was the day I found out. Everything my roommate described to me about trans people fit the bill for my life — the depression, the dysphoria, the wishing and wishing I’d been born a boy, hating the role I was expected to play as a Christian woman. I thought it was normal to feel what I felt; I thought I was supposed to be a woman because that’s what God made me. I only had some vague knowledge of sex changes because of something I’d been told when I was six: “Sometimes boys want to love boys, but they know it’s wrong, so they ask a doctor to cut off their winkies so they can be girls. But they’re still boys, it’s still not okay for them to love boys, and it makes God very unhappy.” That’s all I knew. I suppose I’m glad I didn’t know I was trans at Cole Valley. I can’t imagine having to bear the weight of my identity in that environment, and I want to hug every single queer individual at that school who did. Someone had to tell me I was trans. I was raised in an environment that rejected queer people so vehemently I had no idea what it was. When I look back it feels like stolen time, like years of my life I could have spent living as myself — my REAL self. The depression that ate at me for years was all but gone the third morning after I started hormones. It nearly vanished overnight. I’m in a great place now. Cole Valley gave me so many examples of asshole behavior I’m an expert at spotting abusive people from a distance, and I can’t begin to tell you how useful that’s been. I’m still healing ten years later, but I’m long past letting my experiences there affect who I am now.”

“I remember when a few states started recognizing and legitimizing gay couples, and how many teachers would tell us that homosexuals weren’t real Christians. I’d also hear comparisons like, “Some people are tempted to steal, some people are tempted to rape, some people are tempted to have sex with the same gender.” There was tangible hatred and disgust for queer people. I recall attending a chapel that detailed ridiculous lies about homosexual behavior, how they all commit suicide, get divorced more often,have more sexual partners, and get more STD’s. Are you still the same Christians that thought only queer people got HIV? Do some of you still think AIDS was sent by God as a response to homosexuality? Do any of you think queer people deserve to contract it? If there’s a single member of the Cole Valley staff that still subscribes to vitriolic beliefs like these, no queer child is safe in that school.”

“CVCS holds to the idea that “all sin is equal”. However, homosexuality is the only sin explicitly mentioned in this statement about students. There are no other “sins” explicitly listed in the handbook that are of themselves grounds for expulsion. Examples include: rape, incest, assault, illicit drug use, etc.”

The Cole Valley student handbook makes this statement about requirements of students:

STUDENTS …Thus CVCS retains the right to refuse enrollment to or to discontinue enrollment of any student who engages in sexual immorality, including but not limited to any student who professes to be homosexual/bisexual or is a practicing homosexual/bisexual, as well as any student who condones, supports, or otherwise promotes such practices….

Students Felt or Experienced

• Considered or attempting suicide because of the way they were treated at CVCS
• Faced depression and anxiety and were not able to reach out for help
• Feeling ostracized and like they had no one to talk to
• Felt that parents and teachers actively participated in bullying and exclusion of these students
• Left the Christian faith because of how they were treated

Students Should Feel

• Truly loved and accepted no matter what
• That they can talk to trusted adults about their problems
• That adults will not shame, bully, or exclude them
• That adults will protect them from shaming, bullying, or exclusion by fellow students (even if Christians think homosexuality is a sin, if they want to be Christ-like they should rather eat with them, be around them, share life with them, as Christ did with the tax collectors).
• That their life is worth living
• That they can still be Christians if they desire

Proposed Solutions

• Homosexuality should be treated as a “nonessential matter” relating to religious belief and not taught as if it is a matter of salvation. The belief that homosexuality is a sin is a denominational difference, not a basic core belief of all Christians.
• Support, protect, value, and encourage all students, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identify.
• Revise the student handbook’s policy on homosexuality and it’s discrimination towards LGBTQIA+ students and their parents.

Culture Section

Summary

“Culture” is a broad term that we are using to refer to a range of issues. The throughline of these issues is how people who were perceived as different were treated by Cole Valley. Our community reports numerous examples of ostracization, intimidation, and ideological rigidity. Those who did not conform were either otherized or compelled to change themselves. That compulsion came from other students and faculty alike. Those who were not different in some way were taught to exclude and look down on those who were.

In this section, the Cole Valley Support Group has the following policy recommendations:

• Uniform, responsible education about racism, both in the past and in the present.
• Increased accountability and transparency for reported incidents of racism, bullying, and harassment.
• Formally expanding the language in the student handbook regarding these types of behaviors.
• Respectful, balanced education about evolution and creationism, without requiring (implicitly or explicitly) students to have a certain opinion in order to succeed academically.
• A robust, well-researched and trained system for dealing with the mental health of students.

The rationale for these policy arguments are accompanied by quotes of former Cole Valley students below. The reasoning has been discussed by our community, which includes Christians, at length. We were sensitive to Cole Valley’s worldviews on certain topics and are not expecting Cole Valley to betray their values. We present these recommendations in good faith and hope that Cole Valley will receive them in kind.

Racism

Quotations and Examples

“I never experienced so much sexism, racism, and homophobia before in my life. I was screamed racist slurs toward me in my old biology class, ran by [name redacted]. I admit, I was slacking in that class, but I was never disrespectful. I was going through a lot of issues in my personal life, which subsequently effected my school life. I was having issues with drinking, drugs and dealing with PTSD from being assaulted. Anyways, he stood me up in the middle of the class, screamed at me that I was a failure and I don’t deserve to “be asian,” because my grades didn’t reflect I was “Chinese.” (P.S I’m not even Chinese, he was stereotyping me). He also told me that my current (adoptive) parents shouldn’t have chose me because I’m going to hell for not believing in the gospel and receiving C’s in that class. First off, what the actual fuck? He knew nothing about me. About my story. Nothing. Fast forward to when I was assaulted. I brought it up with the school, because it happened to be from one of the former students. We brought it to the police and the school testified to them and they told me it was MY fault because as a woman, I am a lesser human than a man. They proceeded to quote a verse in 2 Timothy, which says that a woman shall serve men. Long story short, I was expelled and the dude, well… he was congratulated. That school drove me to attempt suicide and struggle with substance abuse. Up until recently, I have worked on healing and dealing with the consequences of what happened.”

“A girl was giving her senior project presentation on “The Moral Degradation of America”. As one of her points she put up a picture from the civil war of a black man standing next to a white man and said that the integration of races was one of the root causes. The black people were corrupting white people with their vulgarity and indecent culture. I protested and asked her about the fact that the white plantation owners were raping their black slaves in the barns. She responded by saying the fact that the owners were hiding the rape was a testament to their good character. Meanwhile the worldviews teacher said nothing. This is just one instance of the repeated times faculty and staff have let explicit racist rhetoric go without reproach.”

“In my American History class, most of the periods were often spent talking about nothing that pertained to our country. One time that stood out to me as a high schooler is when the teacher went on and on (literally at least half of the period) about how Hispanic people are too sensitive. Although I wouldn’t directly put this under “racism” I would put this as harboring inappropriate and unaccepting viewpoints towards a different race. He went on and on about how he’s allowed to say this because his (then) son-in-law was “input here some hispanic race.” He loudly pulled down the map of the world and challenged any of us to find “Hispania” on the map… Since I am married to a Mexican man and have Mexican children, I am more aware of racism now than I ever was. I always agreed with his teachings when he would say things like RACISM ISN’T REAL, WHEN’S THE LAST TIME YOU SAW RACISTS?! THEY’RE ONLY UP IN NORTHERN IDAHO. Maybe the teachings would have been different if the class wasn’t 100% white. We were taught they were all sensitive and that’s the reason racism is still a thing, because they can’t let it go.”

“I also remember being taught such horrible things and at the time I just went with it. For example in one class, a teacher once mentioned how he was waiting in line in airport security and he got pulled aside for a random check. He had been frustrated that the guy behind him didn’t get pulled aside, as he had been wearing a turban and appeared to be middle eastern. That racism was just tolerated. This teacher also told our class one time that he wouldn’t trust any woman on the front line in the military because she would inevitably be weaker and slower than any man.”

Students Felt or Experienced

• It is “okay” or justifiable to view one person as better or more superior to another, based on the color of one’s skin, beliefs, ethnicity, or cultures expressed.
• Students were not consistently reprimanded or disciplined when expressing racist ideas and teachers sometimes looked away. This reinforced the idea that there wasn’t anything wrong.
• There was a disregard or a willing neglectfulness regarding racial matters that allows racist ideas/ideologies to become part of class narratives and culture.

Students Should Feel

• Racism was and is a systematic form of oppression based on prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one’s own race is superior, and that racism is morally wrong, regardless of religious beliefs.
• All nations, ethnicities, and cultures should be celebrated, and students should be taught from a Christian perspective to love our brothers and sisters as Christ did.

Proposed Solutions

• Instead of using anecdotal stories or personal opinions, teachers should be held responsible to teach their students that racism, in any form, is detrimental — not only to individuals, but entire groups/nations of peoples. Teachers should use historical and factual examples to teach these ideas. Teachers should not make light of their own bias’ which could affect a students perception or understanding of a topic.
• Cole Valley could encourage increased racial diversity within the school by continuing to welcome a wide range of exchange students
• Cole Valley should consistently enforce their “zero tolerance” disciplinary policy for racist behavior.

Bullying

Quotations and Examples

“I always felt like an outcast at school. I remember getting in trouble all the time, sometimes silly things like dying my hair an unnatural colour (“Your hair is distracting the other kids!”). Mostly I remember being chastised for my appearance — having hit puberty before everyone else did along with being overweight growing up I was constantly told by teachers that my midriff or millimeters of cleavage was causing young boys to have ‘impure’ thoughts and I need to cover up like a good Christian girl.”

“Most of my classmates rejected me or outright bullied me. The faculty always turned a blind eye to the abuse. Our special needs students got more respect than I did. Only once, when I was pushed into a wall by another student, did anyone ever stand up for me. I thought I was the problem. I thought that was just my lot in life. By the time I was ten or eleven I had a gnawing depression that grew and grew inside me until I wanted to die almost every time I woke up. I tried as hard as I could to be the humble, caring, submissive Christian I knew I should be, but I was still depressed. I could never really pin the underlying cause. I left CVCS but it still followed me.”

“Every teacher ever that I asked for help… ‘Just pray for them, and God will work in their lives.’ Every teacher that took the step to pull the jerk aside… ‘Now, promise to never do it again. Good, let’s pray.’ I’m not saying God won’t work in their lives, I’m just saying it isn’t an every time fix. And the fact that it’s been a clear problem for many decades… they clearly don’t know what they are doing to fix it. They need real discipline in their frameworks.”

“My experience at Cole Valley was not a pleasant one in any way shape or form. Actually one of the happiest days of my life is when I graduated and got out of there. I went there K-12 and I was always the bottom of the totem pole. I didn’t actually have any friends until about 10th grade and later after I graduated I found out one of the reasons why. There were students (none that I’ll name here) that apparently spread rumors that I was gay. I’m not, never have been so, but apparently it was funny at the time. It wasn’t the fact that the rumor was going around (which I fully support the LGBT community) but it was the fact that no one even bothered to ask me if it was true. That’s how invisible I was. No one really talked to me and no one cared to even try to get to know me. For 12+ years! Most of the students in my class (both in grades above and below me as well) had been going to that school as long as I have. No one wanted anything to do with the weird stuttering kid.”

“When I first went back to Cole I felt so out of place. Everyone knew every one and even the kids that I had literally grown up with seemed to ignore me. After a few weeks [name redacted] had me in his office asking me how I was doing and if I was making friends. I shrugged because hell, not really. I talked about a few girls who I thought were cool and thought I’d like to get to know better. When I told him who they were he basically shut me down and told me not to seek friendship with them. He said that I was a “bright young lady” and he didn’t want me to “fall in with the wrong crowd.” I wish I was the person I am today back then so I could tell him to kick rocks. How can you say you teach love when you literally tell a student to avoid friendship with certain people in the same school?”

“Our oldest son went thru terrible hard things including abuse by a coach and awful bullying. He endured it though. Every time I asked if he wanted to leave he would say no. Then our middle daughter faced relentless bullying at the hands of girls in her grade for years and years. Finally, having had 5 staff members come to me concerned (I worked at the elementary so I didn’t realize all that was going on at the HS) I went to the VP and also the Superintendent at the time. What we didn’t know was she was having severe anxiety attacks (they were diagnosed at first as asthma). The VP and Superintendent would not stop the bullying, in fact the VP at the time told me that “they would work it out and they really did love each other” when these girls were threatening bodily harm to my daughter and other girls. These bullying girls were the star basketball players for the school so he had no intention of disciplining them. Sadly it continued to get worse…finally after meetings (and the counselor telling our daughter she didn’t want to hear about the bullying again when our daughter went to her office for safety), letters to VP and Superintendent begging them to help, we pulled her at the beginning of 10th grade as I couldn’t take seeing all that she was going through. But it had to be her choice as we wanted to empower her and keep her safe. She had to do nearly a year’s worth of counseling to work through all that she endured at CVCS. It was sickening as parents to see all the hypocrisy. To this day it has affected her faith.”

Students Felt or Experienced

• Bullying was rampant and Cole Valley didn’t consistently follow established procedures for addressing it. Inconsistent and preferential treatment of students also occurred, and a lack of explicit steps and procedures likely contributed to that.
• Double standards existed for both staff and students regarding bullying.
• Some bully situations were known to teachers, yet they did nothing to help some students except turn a blind eye or pray about the incidents repeatedly.
• There are not robust, step by step procedures that staff or students are expected to use to handle bullying at Cole Valley. Discipline appears to be left for administration to determine on a case by case basis.
• Some students felt meaninglessness, worthless, and invisible, for years on end.

Students Should Feel

• All students, regardless of race, age, gender, etc. should feel safe, valued, and protected from harm from students and teachers.
• There should be a specific procedural plan in place for both staff members and students to adhere to, in order to limit or reduce the number of bullying incidents.
• Students should be respected by other students and staff members. If a staff member sees something, they should intervene without having to be fearful of administrative repercussions.

Proposed Solutions

• Cole Valley should expand their handbook to include specific protections against bullying and detailed standard procedures for dealing with incidents and ensuring they do not continue.
• Cole Valley should adopt best practices at other schools in managing and actively preventing bullying.
• Bullying incidents should be reported transparently for increased accountability and community understanding.
• Cole Valley could implement a yearly student and parent survey, including questions regarding bullying policies. This could help drive evidence-based policies and adjustments to regularly improve student safety and security.
• Parents should be contacted about reported bullying incidents (of any severity) in a timely manner, and parents should feel that their student’s safety is the top priority of the administration.

Mental Health

Quotations and Examples

“I began attending Cole Valley in the middle of my freshman year and had a really hard time forming connections. It wasn’t until the DC trip that I started to feel like I had made some friends. That lasted until somewhere in my junior year when my dad committed suicide and I lost all interest in everything. I was wildly depressed and began driving home to eat lunch so I didn’t have to deal with anyone. It was super obvious that something was wrong. I wrote an essay in an English class about how isolated I felt and the teacher never once approached me to ask if I needed help. The teachers from my church definitely knew what was going on, but no one ever checked in on me. It was just over a month later when my cousin also committed suicide. I still look back on this time and struggle with how alone I felt and how the people who were supposed to support me just didn’t… “

“My experience at Cole Valley changed my views on religion and how I look at it. Overall it had its good and its bad but for me it was mostly bad and had a huge affect on my mental health and future relationships. I struggled for a long time with self harm and suicidal thoughts due to my time there and it bled into my relationships and due to my poor mental state I found myself in a very unhealthy, physically and emotionally abusive relationship. It was not until I sought counseling that I was able to leave those thoughts and my ex behind.“

“My brother has autism, and ever since third grade, there has been this one kid that has constantly said horrible things about autistic people. I’ve told teachers, but they didn’t give a [care]. When I had to go to hospitals for my mental health, I came back as the freak. I’m bipolar, and people think I’m gonna “go psycho” again. People need to take mental health more seriously, especially the staff. And the counselor, [name redacted], has constantly made me feel like trash for having feelings. She tried to not allow me to re-enter the school when I had to unenroll for going to the hospitals. She never understood that maybe kids have trauma that they deal with. But no… they need to be perfect little boys and girls. God hates sin, so if you sin, you’ll go to hell. “

“I was already in such a deep depression, I attempted to take my own life. I was sent to Intermountain. After that, Willow Springs Residential hospital in Reno. When I got back to the school, everyone knew about that too. Some people thought I had been in jail. So I constantly got comments about being back from prison. Others called me crazy. Others called me psycho. I got so many names, I can’t keep track anymore. I started going to an online school.”

“I was very depressed in high school. I used to cut myself. Once a faculty member caught a glimpse of my cuts and just looked at me and said ‘don’t do that’ and that was it. That place could really use some tips on mental health and how to help students who really need help but don’t know how to reach out or are too scared.”

“By the time I was ten or eleven I had a gnawing depression that grew and grew inside me until I wanted to die almost every time I woke up. I tried as hard as I could to be the humble, caring, submissive Christian I knew I should be, but I was still depressed.”

“In 8th grade I began to experience suicidal thoughts and self harm. I was caught writing my suicide note and was sent to the school counselor, who sent me to a Christian counselor who recommended green smoothies and praying. Not the help I needed at the time. I think being at CVCS caused my mental health journey to be stunted, if they had done more maybe things wouldn’t have been so hard in later years.”

“My mom passed away from breast cancer when I was 8 years old, the summer between 2nd and 3rd grade. Once I got to 3rd grade, I was sent to the school counselor’s office once a week for several months. My dad says she told him I was doing just fine, and nobody ever recommended that I see a professional mental health expert outside of Cole Valley. But I was NOT doing just fine. 8 years old is too young to process a catastrophic trauma like that, so of course I was repressing it just beneath the surface. I wouldn’t end up seeing a mental health professional until I had a complete mental breakdown in my early twenties, after 13 years of severe untreated depression and anxiety disorders. Over the years, staff members and friend’s parents would constantly tell me that “God had special plans for me” and “I was such a special person.” This was NOT what I needed. I did not need to be a special person with special problems and a special future that God was preparing me for. I needed a mental health professional. Period. I wonder now what kind of training that school counselor had or didn’t have. In my Psychology 101 class at Boise State, it was clearly explained how small children aren’t capable of processing trauma. How did she not know that? If just one staff member or fellow parent had told my dad that I should see a mental health professional regularly, he probably would have set it up. But no one ever told him that — sadness was supposed to be resolved with prayer and more Bible study. He respected and trusted everyone in the Cole Valley community — and he didn’t see himself as any sort of expert on how to handle matters.”

Students Felt or Experienced

• Students felt as though their mental health was marginalized and generally disregarded.
• Mental health seemed taboo, as though teachers did not want to talk about or acknowledge it.
• Students felt guilt and shame after being hospitalized in some cases, and felt bullied or ostracized upon returning to Cole Valley after being treated.
• Multiple accounts of attempted suicide have been reported from group members, due to the lack of awareness surrounding mental health issues, or because of a lack of response they received from “trusted adults.”
• Forms of shame and admonishment were placed on students which were “biblically based.” For example, “People who commit suicide go to hell.”
• The student handbook does not include the words “depression” or “mental health.” The handbook only mentions suicide in the context of joking about suicide.
• Past students have reported that Cole Valley simply didn’t want to acknowledge mental illness.
• Some students felt a prescription to “pray your way to happiness,” and that depression as a chemical imbalance in the brain was unrecognized.
• The idea that if you were depressed, you aren’t living the best Christian you could be. That somehow students should take more responsibility for their happiness.

Students Should Feel

• They are a unique individual, who is special, celebrated, and loved, even when they happen to have a mental illness such as anxiety or depression, which may include treatments such as medication or attending counseling.
• Students should feel that what’s happening on the inside is valid and valued. No one should be shamed or guilty because of mental illness. They should be treated with respect, love, and compassion, and encouraged to seek the treatments they need.

Proposed Solutions

• Cole Valley counselors should participate in trainings and adopt best practices from other schools relating to mental health, trauma, depression, and student crisis management.
• Outside psychiatrists, counselors, support groups, and advocates should be suggested to students with lingering mental health challenges.
• Bullying or shaming about mental health challenges should not be tolerated and this policy should be adopted in the Cole Valley handbook.

Organizational Overreach

Quotations and Examples

“Remember when administration gave us the right to an “optional” chapel? I jumped at the chance for a study hall. I was proud to sit chapel out, too, because I knew so many of my classmates wanted to but were scared of potential repercussions. But of course, there ended up being a catch. During the study hall, [name redacted] began to go to each student and demand answers as to why we hadn’t gone to chapel. It truly felt like a plan concocted by administration to shake out the “bad seeds” and force the “rebels” to reveal themselves. When he got to me- he said “Now *Student*, I always thought you were a good kid. Don’t you like going to church?” [Another student] in my class sitting near me, piped up. He basically told the principal to chill out on the questioning and mind his business. The principal literally rounded the table to stand across from him and grabbed [the student’s] binders on the table. He picked them up and slammed them down- getting in his face and yelling “BECAUSE I’M IN CHARGE.” And he made [the student] repeat back that he was in charge. Talk about a God complex.”

“A huge issue for me was the way I was treated because of my dad. My mom has always been Christian, and my dad has always been an outspoken atheist. He’s a scientist, he explains everything with science (he also grew up in a Christian household when he was younger but changed his views as an adult). All growing up I felt like I was some sort of “half-blood” at Cole Valley because my Dad wasn’t a believer. I remember once in 4th grade we were making place holders for Thanksgiving and writing bible verses on them. I went up to the teacher and quietly said, “my dad doesn’t believe in God. Is it okay if I don’t put a bible verse on his?” I remember the look on her face as she got up and got the class’s attention to explain to everyone how my dad wasn’t a Christian and asked for ideas what I could put on my card for him. I felt so judged by everyone, everyone stared at me like I was some mutant. I feel like her bringing the whole class’s attention to that was completely unnecessary. After that other kids treated me differently. “I didn’t know your dad didn’t believe in God” and the like were all I heard at recess that day. In grade school I was always told to be careful listening to my dad. In high school a teacher told me to learn from him with a grain of salt, because “even if you’re not talking about god with him, Satan has a way of using sinners to lead you away from him.” Basically, I was painted a picture of how my dad was one of Satan’s henchmen, all because he didn’t believe in god.”

“I never fit with the culture there and had many negative experiences. The worst one (that I believe eventually led to my dismissal) surrounded the football team and the former coach. To make extra money, I agreed to film the football games and create DVDs of the games for coaches to view. It quickly became apparent that the $25 per game I was paid didn’t cover the travel needed to attend the games or the hours I spent breaking down the film and creating multiple copies. When I brought this up with administration, I was told I needed to have a more “servant heart.” One member of the administration even asked me to pray with him and then asked God to give me a heart of service for the school, right in front of me. My faith and a prayer were used as a guilt trip weapon.”

“One last thing that I remember that stuck out to me was my Jr. Year in bible class. There was some sort of abortion project the senior class had to do, and I remember posters being plastered all over the wall about how wrong it was. It was my first year back at Cole and I thought it was horrifying. Not only the assignment itself, but the things that were on those posters. You know for a fact that those students had one sided education about the assignment. Regardless your position of the subject, I don’t think it needed to be an assignment in school.”

“With our youngest son we were told relentless lies about his learning struggles from people who weren’t qualified to say the things they said. We were pressured continuously to pay for more and more. After 3 years of this I pulled him in 6th grade (we were paying nearly $10,000) and we went to a public school where the principal was a dear friend and had his doctorate in education. We desperately needed his wisdom. At the time we had met with our Pastors wife who had been a teacher for 2 decades and she had been meeting with 2–3 CVCS families that were considering litigation over similar issues. She was the encouragement we needed to leave. After a month or so, the public school had a meeting with us to tell us there was nothing wrong with our son. In fact he was super smart & was a solid B student with organizational struggles very common in jr high boys. After all the lies, I had stayed up nights crying over all the diagnoses they gave us and all the things they said… After a year in public school our youngest son begged us to go back to CVCS and we conceded. I went to several months of counseling to work through this. I had started having anxiety attacks over all the pressure they would put me under and the things they would say about my son. The public school teacher advised us to get him educationally tested so we could go back with info from a PhD doc and not be strong armed again. It would also teach us about our son and how he learns. With that when we went back to Cole Valley to register him, against everything in me…they made us go before the whole administration to make our request to come back. I had worked there for several years previously, we had been a family there for 12 years and I had started a mentorship and ministry program there…how ridiculous to make us come before the entire team! They grilled us on why we left and when I was honest about how foolish they looked by all the lies they told us….they said they were sorry. With that we had another meeting a couple weeks later to follow up with his “education plan”. At that meeting they sat us down and said we were no longer a “good fit” for the school and we couldn’t come back. l know why as I had learned too much in the process of the previous year and they didn’t want me to share it with anyone in the school. Our son is now at another Christian school (his choice as he hated public school) and he is on the honor roll and a crazy smart 8th grader. This was the most painful process but we are thankful God did direct us where our kids needed to be.”

Students Felt or Experienced

• Cole Valley seems to have no amount of “wiggle room” when it comes to the acceptance of certain lifestyles, many of which are welcomed at local non-denominational churches.
• Cole Valley seems to have a pattern of disorganization and inconsistency when it comes to who the school accepts as a student, and for what reasons they are either allowed or disallowed to be part of their community.
• Some parents and students were subjected to harsh ridicule, seclusion, and insensitive words or actions from Cole staff upon being asked not to return.
• Students have described feeling that important issues were regularly “swept under the rug” or not fully acknowledged by staff.
• Feelings of being somehow “less than” or not as worthy of Christ’s love based on factors outside of students’ control.

Students Should Feel

• Students should know without a doubt that the school has procedures in place that should be followed by all staff and students, that allows for a safe learning environment.
• Students should know that if they feel as though the culture of the school unsafe for them that their issue will be addressed and something will be done. Incidents should be dealt with in a procedural manner (rather than a case-by-case basis).
• Parents should feel as though they are in a safe and professional environment when interacting with school staff.

Proposed Solutions

• If Cole Valley adopted clearly defined plans, policies, and procedures similar to those of other local private or public institutions, we feel that huge gains could be made in the school’s current social climate and culture.

Science and Evolution

Quotations and Examples

“The biggest issue that I faced was the teaching, or more accurately, the lack of teaching on Evolution. The subject was never really discussed in any scientific way. I was never taught the actual science behind it. All I was ever told was the “pop” version of it and it was made clear that I was supposed to think it was stupid. After leaving Cole and pursuing scientific and technical studies, I found myself behind the curve. What is more, is that when I actually heard the real scientific theory of Evolution and studied the science behind it, it was not stupid at all. In fact, it makes sense.”

“I once got accused of being an evolutionist in the most horrified voice. My dad believes in evolution, so they always called me an non believer. The school pushes the idea that evolution is stupid and anyone who believes it will go to hell. They push it harder than almost any other topic. When the teachers teach us about it, it is from the point of view that creationism is the only true view. Maybe…idk… they can be…idk…WRONG? They aren’t open minded enough to see other points of view.”

Students Felt or Experienced

• Over all, students left Cole Valley feeling unprepared for real world experiences and behind in their understanding of the scientific world.
• Some students who did continue with a creationist worldview after graduation had a difficult time acknowledging, understanding, or defending their views when presented with scientific ideas, in turn having an effect on their faith.
• Students described feeling as though they had to choose between believing in evolution and being a Christian.
• Students described feeling that they being taught misinformation about the theory of evolution.

Students Should Feel

• Students should learn (as in other doctrinal differences) about the variety of Christian beliefs on different subjects, including science.
• Students should not fear judgement or loss of salvation due to beliefs on evolution.
• Students should leave Cole Valley with an accurate understanding of evolution that is equal to or exceeds their peers in public schools. They should be fully equipped to enter biology classes at a public university if they choose.

Proposed Solutions

• Consult with a local (Christian) professional scientist who can help ensure evolution is taught without misinformation about the theory.
• Evolution should be treated as a “nonessential matter” relating to religious belief and not taught as if it is a matter of salvation. The belief in evolution is a denominational difference, not a basic core belief of all Christians.
• The Cole Valley board statement should leave room for difference of opinion regarding evolution.

Administration Section

Summary

“When somebody tells you that you hurt them, you don’t get to decide you didn’t.”

Most of the stories and issues addressed above in this statement are regular in a school setting. Students will be bullied, staff members will make mistakes, people will say things that will offend other people. We are not expecting Cole Valley to be perfect, but we are asking for clearly stated, substantive policies that give students recourse to address issues that they are facing. That is why for this final section we asked our community to discuss how their issues were handled by the administration and/or staff.

In this section, the Cole Valley Support Group has the following policy recommendations:

• Formal training for all faculty and staff on issues including: Sexual assault awareness, victim support for bullying/assault, training to combat rape myth thinking, bullying, reporting processes for crisis situations.
• Develop a system of self reporting for these types of incidents accompanied by a motivated administrative team that will respond to the findings of the report in a substantive way.

The rationale for these policy arguments are accompanied by quotes of former Cole Valley students below. The reasoning has been discussed by our community, which includes Christians, at length. We were sensitive to Cole Valley’s worldviews on certain topics and are not expecting Cole Valley to betray their values. We present these recommendations in good faith and hope that Cole Valley will receive them in kind.

Addressing Crises

Quotations and Examples

A female student was sexually harassed. Her friend stood up to the male student who was the harasser. The counselor and vice principal took the student into the office for a private meeting. They told the students to be quiet and not talk about it. They told the student explicitly that it was because talking about it would give the school a bad reputation. Told student that their friend was wearing skinny jeans that broke dress code when she was harassed. Admin told the student that women have control over the boys actions in the way they dress, and therefore it was not the male student’s fault.

NUMEROUS students shared stories of coming to trusted faculty while in crisis and being turned away, or told to pray about what happened.

Multiple women shared that female students all knew (based on past reactions of adults at the school) that girls who had gotten abortions were allowed to stay and graduate. Girls who were pregnant were forced to leave school and/or not allowed to walk at graduation.

Teachers explicitly stated they would adopt children of any young mother who found herself pregnant, but when pregnant girls confided in staff members they were asked to leave the school and shunned.

Concerns

• The school does not have a written process for how they handle reports of assault or other crisis situations.
• The school does not provide easily accessible public information to students or parents about how to report or handle crisis situations.
• The school does not have a designated person to handle crisis situations and relies on faculty and administration to handle cases individually.

The need for these procedures and policies is well-demonstrated by a pattern of dysfunction and mishandling of students in undeniable crisis situations. Students were raped and assaulted, including crimes that happened on campus and/or were perpetrated by fellow students. Students openly struggled with severe family trauma and mental health crises that went unaddressed by professionals.

• There were no cases reported to our group where a student went to administration for help and the perpetrator was punished/brought to justice.
• In all cases reported, victims were blamed in some way for what happened or made to feel guilty.
• In many cases reported, the victim was later labeled as a “problem student” after their behavior suddenly changed due to the trauma they experienced (depression, “goth” dress, cutting and self harm, etc).
• In no cases reported did we find that victims were offered effective counseling or mental health treatment after the trauma.
• In many cases abuse went unreported by students because of fear of judgement.

Students Felt or Experienced

• They could not rely on trusted adults to address and handle crisis issues
• When approaching trusted adults, they risked getting in trouble
• When approaching trusted adults, they risked being judged
• When approaching trusted adults, they risked being labeled as a “troubled” or “bad” student
• They might be blamed for the bad things that happened to them
• No-one would believe them
• They might have to leave the school if they confided their stories
• They might be blamed for what happened
• They might be publicly shamed or ridiculed (because of a lack of confidentiality)
• They had reached out effectively in times of crisis and were turned away

Students Should Feel

• Adults (teachers/admin) can be trusted with confidential issues
• Adults will listen without judgement
• Adults will provide solutions
• Adults will provide professional resources students need to recover from crisis (counseling, etc)
• Adults will assist in administering justice in instances where there is a perpetrator and a victim
• Adults will use established avenues (police, courts) to bring justice when needed
• Students have an avenue to anonymously report crimes and receive help
• Students should know they have access to quality and effective mental health care, crisis counseling, etc.

Proposed Solutions

• Formal training for all faculty and staff should be required, including: Sexual assault awareness, victim support for bullying/assault, training to combat rape myth thinking, bullying, reporting processes for crisis situations
• Vetting of existing staff and new hire professional qualifications
• School should provide a list (to parents, students, and staff) of trusted professionals that can be relied upon that students can be referred to
• A coordinator (volunteer or hired) modeled after the national Title IX system should be designated. They should not be a member of the administration or faculty in order to avoid conflicts of interest
• An anonymous, electronic reporting system must be established, and a trusted coordinator/volunteer should be designated who is not faculty, admin, or parent at the school. Northwest Nazarene University has an excellent example of an anonymous online reporting system.
• Written resources with avenues and steps for reporting of assault and bullying (anonymous or not) must be established and made readily accessible to students. Students should all be made aware of these services and how to get help.
• Resources and help for suicide and mental illness should be provided and easily accessible to students in the student handbook (school-provided resources plus a list of outside resources/organizations).
• An internal system to record and file actions taken by staff to address crises should be kept.
• Even in the absence of any current reports of harassment, assault, or bullying, it would be wise of CVCS to prepare for the possibility of future reports if those were to occur, so that staff are trained to handle these situations.

Transparency and Oversight

Quotations and Examples

Students used slurs about gays and minorities in front of teachers, and were not punished or told to stop.

Teacher made jokes about LGBT community in front of class, in the place of lecturing and teaching. Teacher “pranced” and “acted gay” or imitated a “gay voice” in front of the class. Teacher told jokes about the “gay salute” (imitating a limp heil hitler salute).

Faculty outright shared strong negative opinions as if they were gospel truth on issues including liberalism, evolution, single mothers, mormons, muslims, catholics, gay, and trans people.

“I personally was sent to the counselor because I was having issues at home and the rumors had gotten to her. Instead of any help I got I told her my issues she basically said “that sucks”. And afterwards when I told her to please not tell anyone this is private stuff, within 3 hours she had a meeting with the entire staff to tell them what happened. Which I don’t know a lot about the legality of a counselor but I dont think shes supposed to tell anyone about private stuff. Sure makes me want to trust the person were supposedly able to go talk to about issues we’re having. She used the excuse of “oh we all were gonna pray about it to help” which If you ask me is staff for I wanted to gossip about it. (I am still a christian and see no issue with prayer I see an issue with telling people a students private business.)”

Students saw tattoo on lower back of another student and called this student a slut. A faculty member, during class, overheard this and also laughed with the students who were shaming them.

Student did not report a sexual assault that occurred on campus (during study hall) because they were afraid that they would be blamed because they were “wearing the wrong thing”.

“‘Liberalism is a mental disorder,’ our history teacher actually said multiple times, spoken so many times it drowns out timelines, events, all the stuff we were supposed to actually be learning. I still heard it in the back of my head as an adult finding herself agreeing with more and more liberal viewpoints. As an adult diagnosed with an actual mental disorder. Which part upsets me more? I’m not sure. I remember our textbook explaining why rock and roll is evil, the counterculture movement was wrong, and how feminism actually hurts women. I remember, even back then, thinking how oddly opinionated our textbook was. It wasn’t just our teachers, it was the materials selected to aid in our learning.”

With a thorough web search, authors of this joint statement and members of the Cole Valley Speaks support group were unable to find documentation related to ways to address and report assault, abuse, or bullying.

There was no easily accessible public information about how to get help for issues of rape, trauma, or abuse. This demonstrates, in and of itself, that resources are not readily available to students or parents in regards to these matters. This unsuccessful web search (combined with firsthand accounts of lack of action, lack of treatment for mental health issues, and lack of resources provided) emphasizes the need for increased transparency.

Concerns

• Information about reported sexual assault or sexual harassment is not shared with students, staff, or parents.
• CVCS has no publicly-advertised accountability system in place for faculty, staff, or administration who receive reports or are asked to address reports. Responsibility in many cases rests on a single person to make a decision about how a report is handled.
• Reports of crisis situations, because they are not handled in a standardized reporting system, are not addressed adequately or consistently.
• The student handbook does not outline clear consequences for behaviors such as bullying, sexual harassment, or assault.

Students Felt or Experienced

• Faculty freely shared personal opinions (including opinions that likely differ from many students and parents at the school) as if they are fact, and incorporated into parts of curriculum including graded exams.
• Faculty openly participated in mocking or shaming of students (bullying)
• Faculty failed to stop bullying that occurred in their presence
• Faculty shared (and/or allowed students to share) harmful opinions about LGBT+ people that caused other students to self-harm (cutting, other issues) as well as contemplate and/or actually attempt suicide.
• Lack of oversight by faculty led students to be bullied, and feel that they would not be protected from bullies.
• Lack of oversight by all adults involved led to mishandling of reports of sexual harassment and assault, typically resulting in nothing being done to administer justice to the perpetrator of these crimes.
• Lack of oversight allows teachers to open classroom discussion in ways that are harmful for students with differing views.

Students Should Feel

• That their concerns and times of crisis are going to be given the full amount of attention that is appropriate.
• That faculty and staff will support them when other students are targeting them for bullying, harassment, or other abuse.
• That faculty and staff will present their opinions only when appropriate, and in a way that does not make anyone feel like an imposter in their own classroom.
• That they have at least one easy course of action to take in the event that they are harmed or threatened by a student or faculty.

Proposed Solutions

• The school should take steps (as other local and national institutions already do: e.g. Boise State University, Nazarene Bible College, Northwest Nazarine University) to summarize all reported assaults on an annual basis at minimum.
• In the interest of full transparency, CVCS should make publicly available any copies of internal documents and procedures relating to administration/staff requirements when handling crisis. This should include copies of any official documents that list steps that should be taken when an assault is reported, who should be notified, responsible parties, and possible courses of action that staff can take (relating to both support systems for the victim or consequences for the abuser).
• If no such documents and procedures exist, these should be drafted and shared publicly.

Signatories

Miranda Albright, Apollo Annisen, Justin Akkerman, Stan Akkerman, Nykita Sivad Baker, Sally Peterson Barrett, Marissa Bartlett, Katherine Beck, Shaye Bennett, Hannah Burns, AJ Burt, Heidi Ware Carlisle, Ashley Rochelle Cleary, Chelsea Collazo, Cameron Crow, Fred Crow, Kelsey Crow, Zack Evans, Bryce Eveland, Phillip Grafft, Meagan Graves, Joe Greenlee, Lara Hall, Paul Heil, Abbie Johnson, Ryan Kinney, Julia Kosakowski, Lauren Loffer, Zach Luce, Karah Mayer, Tara McClees, Jessica Mawhiney, Jasmine Ibach-Mendiguren, Gabriel Miller, Kiley Millington, Stephanie Mills, Alex Moore, Ali Rice, Ashley Rothrock, Carson Russell, Bradley Steele, Abigail Sulfridge, Alex Swanson, Blaisdelle Taylor, Nikki Telford, Seth Vandenbos, Glenna Watson, Kerstiana Lori-l Welsh, Julie Wise, Emily Wixom, Anabell Dawn Woodbury, Connie DeKerchove Wuerth, David Wuerth, Taylor Wuerth, Ashley Young, Heather Zamperini

Others may support this statement but don’t feel that they can do so publicly. We’re representing these people in a tally, and the current total is 6.