Middle school section IX in Virginia

[tezarin]

My 8th grader son has high function autism, we never notified the school and he is super smart and well behaved with good grades. Back when he was in fifth grade, he had a crush on a girl and we found out about this when we start noticing him being super upset because apparently, that girl had many boyfriends and several of them started sending text messages and leave voicemails threading my son saying they will harm him, etc. We immediately reported that to the school and they apparently did not do anything about it beside informing the parent of those kids. Fast forward three years and we get a call from the middle school counselor saying that the parent of that very same girl (from 5th grade now in 8th grade) started a title IX investigation because they have received several anonymous reports accusing my son of making sexual comments about this girl and that when he rides his bike to school, he stalks here, etc. They have no proof except these so called witnesses and some anonymous messages. At the same time, they bully my son at the school, calling him stalker, taking pictures of him while he is using the bathroom, etc. He is under so much pressure and so are we as his parents.. We received the title IX completed email today which has so many disturbing and disgusting lines in there basically accusing my son of saying those things to his friends about the things he would like to do to this girl. The next step would be for school to start its own investigation and interviews with both parties involved. Since I as a parent never had to deal with anything like this and I am shocked as h**, I am not sure what I should do to protect my son. Was hoping to hear some advice. Thank you in advance

 

[quincy]

My 8th grader son has high function autism, we never notified the school and he is super smart and well behaved with good grades. Back when he was in fifth grade, he had a crush on a girl and we found out about this when we start noticing him being super upset because apparently, that girl had many boyfriends and several of them started sending text messages and leave voicemails threading my son saying they will harm him, etc. We immediately reported that to the school and they apparently did not do anything about it beside informing the parent of those kids. Fast forward three years and we get a call from the middle school counselor saying that the parent of that very same girl (from 5th grade now in 8th grade) started a title IX investigation because they have received several anonymous reports accusing my son of making sexual comments about this girl and that when he rides his bike to school, he stalks here, etc. They have no proof except these so called witnesses and some anonymous messages. At the same time, they bully my son at the school, calling him stalker, taking pictures of him while he is using the bathroom, etc. He is under so much pressure and so are we as his parents.. We received the title IX completed email today which has so many disturbing and disgusting lines in there basically accusing my son of saying those things to his friends about the things he would like to do to this girl. The next step would be for school to start its own investigation and interviews with both parties involved. Since I as a parent never had to deal with anything like this and I am shocked as h**, I am not sure what I should do to protect my son. Was hoping to hear some advice. Thank you in advance

I suggest you speak to an attorney in your area who specializes in Title IX education law. Having an attorney for your son can be the best way to protect him from the accusations being leveled against him and to help your son detail the bullying and harassment incidents he has suffered from other students.

Here is a link to the Virginia State Bar where you can start your search:

https://www.vsb.org/Site/Site/legal-help/legal-help.aspx?hkey=0d6fd87a-3a92-4590-bc62-b4f6853ac5bc