A Minnesota principal who allowed a boy accused of sexually assaulting two classmates to remain in school vowed to punish students if they staged a walkout - and then called cops on a concerned mom who questioned his decision to let the boy prowl the same hallways as the alleged victims.
Parents in Zimmerman, a town about 40 miles north of Minneapolis, were left fuming at not only Principal Marco Voce but at the school board after it refused to address the allegations during a meeting on Monday.
Meantime, students at Zimmerman Middle/High School staged a walkout last Friday to express their dismay and were warned by Voce that they could be suspended for participating and breaking district rules.
Cassie Bonine, whose daughter is a student at the high school, attended Monday night’s Independent School District 728's board meeting with hopes of asking questions, but learned none would be answered.
‘We were all denied,’ she told DailyMail.com on Thursday. ‘None of us were allowed to speak at the meeting.’
Bosine said she later encountered Voce on her way to the restroom.
Zimmerman Middle/High School Principal Marco Voce warned students not to stage a walkout over decision to let a boy accused of sexually assaulting two students to remain in school. He then called cops on a parent who questioned his decision, informing her that she is no longer allowed on school grounds
Zimmerman Middle-High School students staged a walkout last Friday to protest an alleged rapist attending classes at the school, which two of his accusers also attend
She asked Voce why he hadn’t responded to an email she sent five days earlier regarding the sexual assault.
He claimed he hadn’t received it, she said, adding that she rushed to the bathroom after becoming tearful.
She emerged from the bathroom and showed him the email on her phone.
‘I then asked him if he had children. He said he had two daughters,’ she said. ‘And I asked him what if it were your daughters? How would you feel in this situation?’
Days later, there was a knock at Bosine’s front door.
It was sheriffs visiting to hand her a trespassing notification, forbidding her from going onto the school property for the next year.
It says: ‘The trespass notice is given due to your verbal altercation with principal Marco Voce, which you instigated, was witnessed by others and was acknowledged on social media’ and was considered to be aggressive, intimidating and inappropriate.’
Bosine received a trespassing notice after attending a school board meeting and approaching the school principal with concerns about how the allegations were being handled
Bosine admitting to raising her voice but refuted being aggressive or threatening.
‘And now I am no longer allowed to step foot on the school grounds that my daughter attends,’ she said.
‘I can't drop her off. I can't pick her up. I can't attend her volleyball games. I can't go to her conferences. If she's sick, I can't go there. If she's injured, I can't go there.’
She said she is now working to transfer her daughter to a different district.
Zimmerman students are pictured calling for more rights for sexual assault survivors
Ahead of last Friday's walkout in protest of the alleged sex assaults, the principal warned students that they could face consequences for participating.
‘ISD 728 does not condone, support, or sponsor student walkouts,’ Voce said in a letter to parents.
‘… students who participate in a walkout that violates any ISD 728 policy, which includes any type of bullying, harassment, discrimination etc., may receive significant discipline which could include out of school suspension.’
The warning didn’t stop students from walking out of class last Friday holding signs with messages such as: ‘ISD 728 how would you like to be in class with your rapist?’
Details of the alleged assaults are unclear.
The school sent out an email ahead of the rally, warning students that they could be suspended for participating
The Sherburne County Sheriff’s Office did not respond to a request for comment, nor did Voce.
None of the ISD 728 board members responded to a DailyMail.com inquiry.
Other parents who attended the board meeting Monday were also upset
