Parents speak out about bus incident

A judge has temporarily denied a request to prevent an alleged assailant in the Glacier High School football bus case from returning to school on Monday.

District Court Judge David Ortley denied a temporary restraining order sought by parents of three freshmen alleged to be assault victims in the Sept. 12 incident.

Meanwhile, parents of the alleged victims are speaking out about the handling of the case, taking both school and county officials to task.

According to documents in a criminal filing from the Flathead County Attorney’s Office, the boys were pulled to the back of a freshman football bus and assaulted in various ways while returning from a game in Missoula.

The parents are suing School District 5 to keep one alleged assailant from returning to school for the remainder of the school year. The youth had been expelled by the school board until the end of the quarter on Friday.

He and another boy, both 15, were charged this week with assault.

Ortley ruled that, starting Monday, the defendant Logan Jones can return to class at least until a Nov. 14 hearing to determine whether a preliminary injunction should be issued.

Attorney Sean Frampton, who is representing the parents, said they initially contacted him shortly after the incident, and he became more involved as an Oct. 11 school board meeting approached.

“We were under the impression that the superintendent was suggesting expulsion of the offending student until the end of the year, and we were waiting to see how the board acted on that,” Frampton said Friday.

Frampton also briefly commented on a reference to Glacier Athletic Director Mark Dennehy in the lawsuit. Frampton said two parents separately had quoted Dennehy as dismissing the possibility of expulsions.

“The concern is that the victim students receive a quality education,” Frampton said, “and part of that quality education means that they are comfortable with the way the school will deal with the situation, the offending student, et cetera, and [Dennehy’s alleged statement] was conveyed to me by a couple parents in the vein that they are not comfortable with how the school is handling this matter.”

Dennehy on Friday had no comment other than to call the allegation “unbelievable.”

Kalispell Public Schools Superintendent Darlene Schottle defended Dennehy, saying that while she was not in the room and did not know exactly what was said, that she was sure the statement was not made.

“I have to believe there was some misunderstanding, because I am confident that was not a statement that was made in that way,” Schottle said.

Schottle said the school never takes into account any student’s academic or athletic ability when making decisions on punishment for misdeeds. She said the decision on expelling students initially belongs to the superintendent, and she wouldn’t know what the particular skills of the students involved are in the first place.

She commented on the civil case, saying that she agreed with Ortley’s decision and is looking forward to sharing the school’s information with him at the hearing. Schottle also went on to explain that although the school board ultimately shortened the expulsion, she had originally recommended that Jones be expelled for the entire year.

On another matter, attorney Frampton explained the lawsuit’s use of the term “sexual assault” as opposed to the basic assault charge being leveled against the two youths. He said the label was used based on his understanding of the facts of the incident.

“It meets the technical definition of [sexual assault] under the code,” he said.

He confirmed that one student who reported being assaulted already has transferred out of Glacier High School.

“It was a direct result of the fact that there’s been no expulsion of the offending student,” Frampton said.

That student is not a petitioner in the civil case that was filed Wednesday.

THE MOTHER of one of the main victims in the incident shared her frustration with the ongoing criminal case as well.

In particular, she argued that Deputy Attorney Lori Adams misrepresented the will of the victims’ parents. (According to longstanding Inter Lake policy, victims of alleged sexual assaults and their family members are not identified by the newspaper.)

“We did not agree to assault charges,” the mother said. “We clearly stated that we wanted sexual assault charges pressed and they told us that they were not going to do that. The whole reason that we wanted it to be charged as sexual assault is that’s what it was, and by just calling it assault it would take away from the integrity of the case, which it is doing.”

She explained that when she and her son went to the county attorney’s office, they both wanted sexual assault charges filed, but prosecutors talked her son out of it.

“They told him he wouldn’t want to have that label of a sexual assault victim,” she said.

She said they also were told that, with only an assault charge, the case could be expedited and wouldn’t have to be dragged out over a long period of time.

She said no one with the county attorney’s office contacted them before filing the charges.

“They clearly want this to go away,” she said. “I feel like they’re hearing us but they don’t really want to do everything that they can to make it right.”

Adams did not respond to a message left on Friday.

The mother went on to say that the school administration has not lived up to the promises made to victims and their families by Schottle.

“They have done nothing for the victims, period,” she said. “They have all these plans in place for the perpetrators coming back to school, but they have not pulled the victims aside to tell them how it’s going to work, ask them how they feel, anything. They are solely focused on the perpetrators.”

She said her son is struggling and wants to transfer to a different school.

A different mother, whose son reported being assaulted in the incident but was not included among the victims in the criminal case, said she and her family are so frustrated with the way the incident and past incidents have been handled by school officials that they are putting their house up for sale and moving.

She said she and her son both wanted sexual assault charges pressed and that her son, while he would prefer not to if he didn’t have to, would be willing to testify in court.

“It was a sexual act,” she said. “It should be on their record that it was a sexual assault.”

She concurred with the first mother that nothing has been done for the victims despite initial assurances by Schottle that the school was looking into getting counseling for them. She also said her attempts to contact school administrators have failed.

“I tried to email them and I tried to talk to them and they completely ignored me,” she said. “They have done absolutely nothing for my son.”

With regard to the criminal case, she said she was surprised when she discovered her son was left out of it. She had not been told ahead of time that he would not be included.

Schottle denied the allegations made by both mothers. She said the school has offered counseling to students that were involved and has received billing from those students who did take advantage of the counseling.

“We also offered the restoration meeting, and some of the parents did access that opportunity,” Schottle said. “I believe, from our perspective, we’ve tried to put that out there and tried to work with the parents.”

Schottle also said that she has responded to all calls she has received and that she is unaware of anyone whose call or email she has not returned.

Reporter Jesse Davis may be reached at 758-4441 or by email at jdavis@dailyinterlake.com.