The Bay Area is reeling today after learning about a local school district's investigation that involves two incidents of reported sexual acts by second graders in a classroom.
The incidents happened last week at Markham Elementary School, according to principal Pam Booker. She said Oakland Unified School District officials are investigating the reports.
Oakland School District spokesman Troy Flint said two second-grade students engaged in oral sex inside a second floor classroom while the teacher was present. In a separate case, two students took off their clothes in the same classroom. It was not clear if the same students took part in both incidents.
"(The teacher) maintains that he did not observe what is reported to have happened,"Flint told reporters. Flint said that teacher has been placed on administrative leave.
Flint said counselors are now on the campus to work with the class as a whole and with individual students. "They're telling students that they're not to blame, that it is natural curiosity and discussing how best to express that curiosity in the right time, place, and manner," Flint said.
Parents with students in the school got a letter from the principal that expressed "deep regret."
According to the allegation, the first incident involved several students who undressed, at least partially, while acting disruptively in the classroom. The second incident concerned two students who engaged in sexually explicit behavior, also in the classroom.
