POLL: How Does Westborough High Handle Sexual Assault Reports?

WESTBOROUGH, MA—Last week, hundreds of Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School walked out of class in the morning to make a statement about a sexual assault that reportedly occurred years ago, but only came to light recently through a lawsuit that was filed. The walkout, according to students, was a demand from them and parents for action.

The students at L-S are critical of the school's handling of the sexual assault and filed out of the building into the athletic fields. The L-S walk-out stems from support for a former student at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School, who last week filed a lawsuit against the school and its officials over the handling of an alleged rape that occurred at the school when she was 15.

The Massachusetts woman filed a civil action that she was sexually assaulted by two boys in November of 2013 during a football game at the school. Over the weekend, several in the Sudbury and Lincoln communities and school system banded together to create a petition protesting the matter.
Responding to the walk-out, Superintendent Bella Wong addressed the students, staff and families with an emailed notice in support of the walk-out.

In light of recent incidents at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School, we reached out to Westborough High School regarding its policies surrounding assault, harassment and serious offenses of that nature. Would Westborough's students feel secure and confident in coming forward with an incident? Are provisions and staff in place to handle something similar as the sexual assault at L-S High?

"Each and every case regarding a student concern is individual and complex," Amber Bock, superintendent, told Patch. "We use a team approach to any concerns brought forward so that we can check for blindspots and gather several vantage points for case assessment. We are guided by the expectations set forth in the Student Handbook, which is online. We work closely with our School Resource Officer and with families for student issues. We are always focused on supporting students and families."

How do you, the students, parents and community, feel Westborough would handle a sexual assault reported to the school?