Why Should You Care?

This statement represents the opinion of the author and not necessarily the position of Rockton-Roscoe News. It mentions some of the issues we reported on in a recent story. Responses are welcome.

Several years ago, I fought a battle with a group of parents against COVID mandates in District #207. At the time, I had two of my three sons at Hononegah. I was outraged by the treatment of specifically my youngest son (who was a freshman) by faculty and administration. The specifics of these instances were recorded and documented by me. I had much interaction with administration and faculty. It did nothing to change the treatment of my son, despite his straight A status and model behavior as a student. At that point, I attempted to remove my two remaining sons from the district.  

Many have asked why I didn't just pull my children from the school if I didn't like what was going on there, but my kids aren't the only ones that matter to me. Furthermore, what most people are not aware of is that my ex-husband was the only parent living in District #207 at that time.  I received sole custody of all four of my children in 2012.  I went to court and had the custody order changed to “joint custody” in 2018 so that my oldest son could legally attend Hononegah. Up until 2017, I had homeschooled all four of my children for 14 years under the protection of another court order, most of those years, as a single mom.  I was not legally allowed to remove my sons from the district without their father’s consent and the principal at Hononegah is the one who told me so. 

In an hour of weakness I chose to put my children in public school. The circumstances at the time made me believe I had to. I later realized I did have a choice but by then the courts were on the side of COVID. I knew a court battle was pointless. I moved to the district only 3 years ago to run for school board. I had mistakenly heard that was the only way to make a difference in the education system.  Since I put my children in the district, they’ve all struggled. I am not so naïve as to blame the school for all these struggles. Yet, via my sons’ observations as well as my direct involvement with faculty and administration, I am convinced that situations have frequently occurred there that have put my son’s well-being and physical safety at risk.  My son received a death threat from a stranger that attended the school in written form. In other instances, students attempted to deal drugs including cocaine and heroin to my oldest son.  

I have heard accounts from parents of their daughters being physically abused on multiple occasions by male students in the halls during school hours with security video footage available. They told me that administration worked to protect the school and the football team, not the girls. I have seen young girls come before the school board and ask for protection from the board in front of dozens of parents at a public meeting. These girls were being secretly videoed during the school day as they walked the halls, with close shots taken of their private body parts that were then posted to social media by a young man for comment.  When they came to the school board for help (I was there), the school was defended, and the girls were shut down and not even given their five minutes of public comment. I asked about this situation recently, at a private meeting with administration.  There was no apology, only justification: “You didn’t hear the whole story.”  To which my response was/is, “If you had given them their whole five minutes of public comment (per the Open Meetings Act) maybe I would have.” 

Why am I detailing these incidents? Because I now believe that the school is allowing biological men in the women’s locker room and biological women in the men’s locker room, as well as the rest rooms. I believe this because the superintendent and the head principal both told me this directly. When we consider the dangerous situations that have already been allowed to take place at our school, this “arrangement” amongst mixed genders is a recipe for tragedy. I will continue to prove this assertation in upcoming publications.

Michael Dugan recently called to report “3^rd person hearsay” to the Rockton Police Department regarding a seven-year-old rape incident I asked him about.  I had no dates and no names. I prefaced the story by saying that I didn’t know if it happened, but I knew something must’ve happened because of how and by whom the story was relayed to me.  Officer Davies of Rockton PD verified that Mr. Dugan failed to report to the police the other far more recent violent events I told him about. Davies also told me that Mr. Dugan did not inform her the victim died by suicide. I never gave either Mr. Dugan or Mr. Dougherty the name of the victim, but I did tell them that the student I heard the story from relayed details with hysterical sobbing and prostrate posture.   

Officer Davies told me she was seeking to open an investigation.  The police attempted to contact multiple family members of mine before they spoke with me. They contacted my ex-husband as well, looking for information and phone numbers for their “investigation.” According to Illinois law, the only way the police can investigate 3rd person hearsay regarding rape is if the person reporting the act has the victim's consent. Michael Dugan did not have that consent. Wouldn’t you want to ask the superintendent what happened if you heard about a possible rape from the past that took place at Hononegah High School, like I did? My inquiry was used in a retaliatory manner, as an attempt to discredit me.

This is just a small taste of what I’ve experienced at HCHS since 2018.  I’m not the only one.  It’s time for more parents and more students to come forward with their stories and experiences at Hononegah High School before, not after something tragic happens.  I plan to make a space for us to do just that.  There is legal protocol that can be taken within the school to protect students and prevent tragedy. We as parents need to make sure the school takes it. I hope you’ll follow my writing and step forward to help me in my endeavor. 

Follow my writing at https://studiothreetoday.wordpress.com/