LYNDHURST, Ohio — Chants could be heard outside of Charles F. Brush High School on Tuesday as roughly 40-50 students staged a walkout following the administration's recent efforts to re-enforce the school's dress code and student behavior after complaints of sexual harassment between students at the school.
"I'm scared, honestly," sophomore Lillian Anderson, the walkout's organizer, said. "In this place, where we're supposed to feel safe, a lot of these administrators say this is our home away from home, and it really doesn't feel like that."
Students tell 3News school officials held two separate assemblies: one assembly for male students and another for females. Both of those assembles were hosted by a male administrator.
"Instead of the boys being told they were responsible, the girls were taken into a room and told it was their job," Anderson recalled. "[That] it was our clothing and we had to cover up and be the mature ones in the situation and the boys were less mature so that we had to lead them to the right path."
According to Anderson, students feel ignored by the school's administration.
"There were a lot of tears, a lot of tears," she lamented. "I think men are responsible for their decisions. I think it's actually promoting rape culture to say that it is our fault."
3News reached out to Brush High School and the South Euclid-Lyndhurst school board, which responded with this statement:
"The South Euclid Lyndhurst Schools is aware of concerns that have emerged, which prompted some students to express their viewpoints through a walkout earlier today. The district treats these concerns with the utmost importance and urgency and is actively and thoroughly investigating them. The well-being of our students and staff is a top priority of the South Euclid Lyndhurst Schools, and we will communicate further updates in an appropriate manner at the proper time."
Yet students argue it's not the school's dress code students have concerns with, but their safety, since there are only two females on Brush's administrative staff.
"We have a female security guard, but we need more females to go to," Anderson told us. "It's just easier to go to a female than one of the men because they understand what you're going through."
The students feel telling girls what they should or should not wear to school should be the least of the administration's worries.
"We hope this walkout made them realize that they need to make better decisions and be more proactive towards the cause," Anderson said.
In the wake of the controversy, South Euclid-Lyndhurst Superintendent Dr. Linda N. Reid sent a letter to parents on Wednesday, emphasizing that the district "has absolutely zero tolerance for sexual harassment, or harassment of any type, period." She added that an investigation into the matter is ongoing, and that a Student Advocacy Council will be created "to provide students with a safe space to share their voice and pressing concerns."
"It is important for students to know how and who they can communicate their concerns and claims to so that they feel safe and heard," Reid wrote. "I will be working with district leadership and community partners to help facilitate a forum for students and their parents to gain an understanding of the process and the support that is available to them."