Palmer Ridge High School has been thrust into the national spotlight following allegations against one of its former students, Deuce Roberson. The accusations include claims of sexual harassment and rape committed by Roberson during his time at the school. Despite being recruited for football at the University of Colorado Boulder, Roberson was notably absent from the roster by the spring semester.

In the wake of these allegations, numerous concerns surrounding Palmer Ridge and District 38’s response to sexual assault have been raised by alleged victims. Former student Jenna Baker took action by initiating a change.org petition, urging District 38 and the University of Colorado to take steps to detain Deuce Roberson. Her sentiments were echoed by several other former and current Palmer Ridge students who bravely shared their own stories.

In response to these items joining the public eye, principal Adam Frank released a statement to families. Amongst other things, Frank stated that there would be a sexual assault task force to be created in the 23-24 school year to better respond to these situations. However, a month into the year, Palmer Ridge students have not seen any visible changes in how things are running.

Starting from the 2022-2023 academic year, Palmer Ridge initiated a new program named “Bear Time”, whose focus is on imparting social-emotional learning among students. The program is a 26-minute homeroom period that is mandatory for all students at Palmer Ridge. The aim is to promote mentorship opportunities for students to engage with their peers from different grades. However, despite the introduction of this program, there is still a significant gap in the school’s curriculum. Students reported that they were not being adequately educated about topics like proper consent, safe sex practices, or how to protect themselves in cases of abuse or domestic violence. The national attention garnered by the Roberson case made it clear that action was imperative.

As well as the statement produced by Frank, an additional statement was sent out to all families of students in a Lewis-Palmer School District secondary school [Palmer Ridge High School, Lewis Palmer High School, Lewis Palmer Middle School]. This comment made by the district lightly touches on the news story, however, does not go in depth as to not violate FERPA [Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act].

“I didn’t feel safe at school,” comments a former Palmer Ridge student, “I would have to see them in the hallways every day. I would fake being sick and get into fights with my parents just to avoid seeing their face.” One anonymous Palmer Ridge student, who had survived a rape by another student, voiced her feelings of insecurity within the school environment. She ended up switching districts and going to a different school because she felt like the administration was not helping or supporting her in the ways she needed.

“I just wanted my assailant to receive a talking to,” she continued. Calling the administration’s support “minimal,” the student continued to explain how they did not feel fully supported by the administrators at PR. By switching schools, she felt instantly more supported regarding her rape. “My new school has been amazing. I’ve made friends and been able to seek new opportunities that I missed at Palmer Ridge.”

As per the Colorado state statute, consent is: “cooperation in act or attitude pursuant to an exercise of free will and with knowledge of the nature of the act. A current or previous relationship is not sufficient to constitute consent. Submission under the influence of fear does not constitute consent.” Meaning, that to give consent, the other party must be fully aware of the content and nature of the act they are committing to. The statute also directly says that any form of coerced consent is illegal; and would then be classified as sexual assault or rape depending on circumstances.

Unfortunately, many people across the United States do not understand what it means to give or receive consent. Through a voluntary form for students who took health class at Palmer Ridge, it has become increasingly clear that something needs to change. Most respondents to the survey said they felt as though they did not receive proper sexual education from Palmer Ridge. Furthermore, students replied by saying they were not taught about consent in class. It even went so far as for a responder to say they fully believed a person could consent when intoxicated. Students also said they felt all the class did was preach abstinence instead of pushing informed and affirmative consent along with safe sex.

These statistics are similar to ones found in a national survey conducted by Planned Parenthood in 2015. The survey showed that 64% of the people surveyed believed too little is done to support victims of sexual assault in High Schools. When a school district is dealing with all these cases of assault, it is unreasonable that students are not being taught how to protect themselves.
So, what is the solution?

To better protect our students, it is key to ensure that everybody is receiving comprehensive sexual education from a much younger age than people may realize. Important aspects of sex education can be implemented as young as elementary school. By the time students have reached high school, the age most students take sex education classes, students have already formed ideas and connotations about their bodies. By teaching kids about their body and how it functions sooner, it is much easier to avoid misconceptions.

To better protect students, there is a growing consensus nationwide that comprehensive sexual education needs to begin at a much younger age, even as early as elementary school. This early education focuses on teaching children social and emotional aspects of sex education, helping them understand consent not only in sexual contexts but also in their daily lives, such as their right to refuse physical contact they’re uncomfortable with.

Another crucial, often overlooked aspect of sexual education is the inclusion of information about lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender identities. A 2021 study by the CDC revealed that suicide rates among LGBT-identifying students are disproportionately high, with more than a quarter of such students having attempted suicide, around five times more than their cisgender or heterosexual peers. Educating students about identity could help reduce the emotional distress experienced by queer students, who often feel different and confused.

To better protect and support our students, we need action now. A group of representatives across District 38, including counselors, principals, teachers, parents, and students, worked on a consent task force to present options for this dilemma.

“So the district created a consent task force,” says Principal Adam Frank, “it was created as a kind of joint venture between district and school leadership. It also has representation from school counselors.” “We talk all the time about creating a safe school environment,” stated Lewis-Palmer Superintendent KC Somers, “making sure that students are aware of what responsibilities we play in that and what will happen in the event of some violation is really important.”

“We have been looking at two topics, policy, and then training related to relational consent, social media use, Title IX and sexual harassment, and sexual assault,” explains Frank. Title IX [Title 9], was enacted in 1972 to prevent sex-based discrimination in schools or other educational programs that are funded by the US government.

“We have been working on a board relating to creating a curriculum that supports consent education at a developmentally appropriate level” continues Somers. “You can go all the way down to kindergarten, first grade, and say, hey, how do we show respect for boundaries and taking turns and asking for permission? Make sure they can ask, is this okay with you? Then students get in the habit of being respectful to themselves, each other, and their environment,” continued Somers.

However, there are still some faults to this solution. If the school district executive board chooses to decline or modify the proposal, consent may not be taught at all grade levels as planned. There is also the possibility of it being limited and cut to only high school, even only health classes. While there were some board members involved with the task force, ultimately, it is up to the board as a whole.

In addition to the risk of approval, consent education is not the only new curricular piece that needs to be added to this puzzle. While teaching consent is a key aspect, students cannot fully protect themselves if they do not have a full grasp on what defines assault, harassment, or even what sex is in the first place. Furthermore, students in our district have a very vague, misunderstood outlook on the LGBT community. It is sometimes assumed that if something occurs in a same-sex relationship, it cannot be a sexual assault. However, this is not true. Our district has not been kind to those who identify as transgender.

In 2022, a proclamation produced by the Monument Academy board came out as against the Colorado non-discriminatory and public accommodation laws. In this proclamation, Monument Academy stated “The Board believes that the current Colorado legislation referred to as S.B. 08-200 and H.B. 21-1108, jeopardizes the innocence, wellbeing, privacy, and safety of our students.” Continuing, the school went as far as to say that “The Board firmly believes that any laws passed by the United States Congress and Colorado General Assembly that mandate specific instruction or that direct [Monument Academy] to follow specific instructions regarding nonbiological ‘gender expression’ and/or ‘gender identity’ in determining the use of biological sex-specific common bathrooms, biological sex-specific common locker rooms and participation in biological sex-specific athletic sports; violate natural law, moral truth and expose our students to undue harm, confusion, and dysphoria.”

Gallery • 2 Photos

The first page of Monument Academy's proclamation

At this current point in time, Lewis-Palmer School District has lots left to do before it is truly a safe and welcoming environment for all students. With Lewis-Palmer School district’s history of feigning ignorance, it is unlikely we will find ourselves seeing much progress soon. Frankly, considering the primarily conservative leaning school board, we may not see considerable progress for years down the road.