About 100 students at Brunswick High School staged a walk-out Thursday to call for better response from administrators to reports of sexual assault.
Brunswick schools superintendent Phil Potenziano says there has been an increase in sexual assault and harassment allegations among students in recent years. Potenziano says the school has updated its policies and will implement an anonymous reporting system this fall.
"Our goal is to end sexual violence in our greater community as well as to ensure it does not happen in our school buildings," he says.
Administrators will also meet with Sexual Assault Support Services of Midcoast Maine next week to discuss how to better support students. The organization's executive director says Brunswick schools have been actively working to address issues, but says the school system's culture is problematic.
"We've just been privy to a number of cases that have not been handled very well by the schools, sexual assaults that have occurred or been reported by students to the school, where the school has had very limited follow through in supporting them," says Arian Clements, executive director of Sexual Assault Support Services of Midcoast Maine.
Last October, Brunswick High School fired its football coach and cancelled the rest of the season due to allegations of hazing and harassment among players.
