AUBURN, Calif. — Bowman Charter School parents in Placer County are frustrated over how the school has handled an inappropriate incident on picture day.
Parents told ABC10 that school leadership only told parents of fifth graders about the incident, alleging a male photographer - brought in for student photos - inappropriately touched some of them.
“The photographer was making inappropriate noises, saying inappropriate things, and there was some inappropriate touching,” said Kristine Drost, Bowman Charter School parent.
The incident took place on Sept. 15, but Kristine Drost read about it on Facebook this week.
“My heart stopped. My blood ran cold. I could not believe what I was reading,” said Drost. “To keep this from us is just horrendous. It is a huge liability. I do not understand why you would not let the parents know about this.”
Kristine and her husband Kyle have a daughter attending the school, which serves Kindergarten to eighth grade students.
Parents told ABC10 off camera that the school sent a statement about the incident nearly two weeks ago, saying several fifth graders reported the male photographer made them feel uncomfortable when getting their picture taken.
The Drosts said the statement was only sent to fifth grade parents, even though the photographer worked with numerous grade levels that day.
“For no one to notify the entire school is horrendous,” said Kyle Drost. “To be able to ask our children, 'What happened? If this happened to you.' We need to know this.”
ABC10 reached out to school leaders and the Ackerman School District but have not heard back.
But the school did send parents a statement Wednesday evening. Parents shared it with ABC10. The statement read in part:
“We want to assure the Ackerman Charter community that the safety of our students is our highest priority, and we are fully committed to taking the necessary steps to protect students and staff. Upon hearing about the allegation of inappropriate conduct by a Lifetouch photographer, school administration acted immediately to investigate and report in accordance with state and federal laws, as is our standard practice. All of our staff are mandated reporters, and we take that role seriously. At this time, it is an active investigation. We cannot provide specific details in order to protect student privacy.”
The Drosts said this incident has caused the small community to have mistrust for school leaders. They pulled their daughter out of school until they find out what happened.
“Thank goodness our daughter was not affected by it,” said Kristine Drost. “But there are parents out there tonight that might not know that their child has been affected by this, that their child might have been touched inappropriately, or something might have happened to their kindergartner or their first grader, and they are too scared to speak up about it.”
Lifetouch Photography has released the following statement:
"At Lifetouch, our top priority is the safety of every student we photograph. We conduct background checks on all of our photographers. We take any allegation about our photographers very seriously and are cooperating with this investigation. As is consistent with our policy, the employee in question has been removed from photography duty in schools and placed on unpaid administrative leave while the investigation continues.”
The Placer County Sheriff’s Office told ABC10 they are investigating this incident to find out what happened and if there is validity to the parents’ allegation.
The office urges parents who have more information to give them a call at 530-886-5375.
WATCH ALSO:
