On Nov. 13, an attorney for a student who was allegedly sexually assaulted at Haven Middle School during school hours reportedly provided a letter from the student’s parents to the Chief of the Evanston Police Department, the Mayor of Evanston, and the States Attorney of Cook County. The letter asked why no one had been charged in the incident that allegedly took place on Oct. 4, and it asked other questions.
Commander Ryan Glew of the Evanston Police Department told the RoundTable there is a pending and active investigation and no one has been arrested. When asked specific questions, he said for the sake of the investigation, he could not comment further.
Phil Ehrhardt and Dr. Heidi Wennstrom, Interim Superintendents of District 65, and Kathy Roberson, Haven’s Principal, said in a letter to Haven staff and families on Nov. 13 that the District has participated and cooperated fully in the investigation, providing every record, video footage and unfettered access to staff and facilities to promote a thorough and just resolution. They added, “Any employee potentially involved in this reported incident was immediately placed on a leave of absence and remains on leave without access to Haven or any school in the District.
“We have closely reviewed all of our safety procedures and asked the police to review them as well, looking for improvements. We also had an outside security company come and give us feedback. We have installed an additional video camera in the school, are adding alarms to exterior doors that are not regularly used during the school day, and implemented additional training for administrators across the district.
“Our primary focus has always been to support the student and her family, all the students in our care, and to thoroughly review our safety procedures and implement improvements as identified.”