HUNTSVILLE, Ark. — On Monday, July 25, the Huntsville Board of Education held a special meeting to discuss the possibility of a settlement of the ongoing sexual assault lawsuit.
The board agreed to the $1 settlement, but members of the community wanted the board to admit their fault.
“I’m so proud of them,” shouted Danon Strege parent of a Huntsville student. “They did what we elected them to do.”
The Huntsville Board of Education admitted liability in a Title IX case going on since February of last year.
“I started crying because I was here at the very first board meeting holding the protest sign,” Strege said.
“When my daughter was on the news report with Micah right here and said that she didn’t even want to send her future children to the school,” Strege said recalling how her children felt unsafe going to school in the Huntsville School District.
Strege is now breathing a sigh of relief. The settlement request was filed in the fall of 2021, it was for $1 and for the board to admit liability.
“What it means is maybe you were guilty,” said Huntsville School District Attorney Charles Harwell, speaking about what it means if the district admitted liability.
The settlement also requires Title IX training for certified personnel. Title IX protects people from discrimination based on sex in education programs or activities that receive federal financial assistance.
Harwell says the board was already planning to have Title IX training for personnel starting August 8.
The victim's parent says Title IX training is needed because a school employee knew about the sexual abuse and did nothing.
“He said, ‘I will handle it, don’t worry,'” said a parent of a victim repeating what a coach told her. “'We will get this handled' — nothing happened.”
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