INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- The superintendent of Warren Township schools in Indiana will talk to parents next week about allegations that two students had sex in a middle-school class while a teacher was in the room, a spokeswoman said Friday.
Parents and students told the news media, and Associate School Superintendent Dr. Jeff Swennson confirmed this month that two sixth-graders had sex in a class at Raymond Park Middle School in November. The district acknowledged in a statement Thursday that the students "were involved in inappropriate conduct in a lab class last semester" and added that it investigated and took "appropriate action."
On Friday, a spokeswoman said the superintendent would speak about the matter at Tuesday's regularly scheduled parent-teacher-student association meeting at 6 p.m. at the middle school.
Attendees will be able to ask questions, according to the spokeswoman, Myra Borshoff.
Parents of students in the district said they are upset that the school system hasn't revealed how the students were disciplined or whether the teacher was reprimanded.
The scandal broke after an Indianapolis TV news station released an investigative report alleging the incident occurred. Swennson then confirmed that the district had knowledge of the alleged incident, saying it happened almost four months ago in an industrial arts lab with the teacher present.
Swennson said another child acted as a "lookout," disputing an insider’s claim that as many as 13 children may have witnessed the act.
Parents, community members and national talk show host Bill O'Reilly questioned why the school didn't notify parents or acknowledge the situation publicly until now.
"I think that's really bad," concerned parent Julie Nance said. "The teacher was in the room. Where was he? How could kids get by with the teacher there? For the school district to hide it like they did is just wrong."
"I'm not sure that the appropriate discipline was taken," Nance said. "They shouldn't have tried to hide it. If things like that are going on in my child's school, I want to know about it."