Around 20 parents and protestors gathered in front of John Muir K-8 Academy Thursday morning after learning earlier this week about a lawsuit that alleges a 13-year-old girl was sexually assaulted on campus by a male student.

Parents said that the school failed to notify them of any such incident and that they want the Long Beach Unified School District to take firmer action to protect Muir Academy students. According to the lawsuit, reported by the Post this week, the alleged incident occurred in May.

The lawsuit, filed last month by the girl’s guardian, accuses the LBUSD of not taking proper steps to prevent the sexual assault. The lawsuit alleges campus administrators were aware of previous behavioral problems from the male student but he was still able to violently assault the 13-year-old girl in a stairwell after she was given permission to leave class because she was feeling sick.

The school district declined to comment, citing the pending legal proceedings.

The lawsuit does not identify the male student, and based on limited information in the lawsuit, police could not say whether they had opened a criminal case, but several parents said Thursday that they believe the student is still enrolled. Some parents said they have pulled their children from the school or threatened to transfer their children to other schools unless he is removed.

Parent Andrea Razo said she has temporarily pulled her daughter from school because she believes the male student is still attending Muir Academy.

“He’s still sitting in class like nothing happened,” Razo said.

Several parents in attendance were outraged by what they called a lack of transparency. Many said that they learned about the alleged assault only recently—on social media and from the article published Monday by the Long Beach Post—despite the fact that, according to the lawsuit, the alleged assault occurred nearly six months ago.

Razo said she tried to contact both the school’s principal, Sophia Griffieth, as well as Superintendent Jill Baker after reading about the lawsuit in the Long Beach Post, but she was unable to reach either of them.

Andrea Razo speaks with other parents outside Muir Academy. Photo by Tess Kazenoff.

Grecia Antonio said her daughter is not comfortable going to school anymore.

“If she’s not comfortable, I’m not going to force her to come,” she said.

Daniel Garcia said his daughter has not been in school since Wednesday.

“We might have to think about going to another school, which would really suck for us and her,” Garcia said. “She’s been here her whole school career, all her friends are here—it would be something we have to do, not something we want to do.”

The district did not confirm whether or not the student accused in the lawsuit is still enrolled at Muir Academy and did not provide a response to questions about parents removing their children from campus.

One parent provided the Post with a letter signed by Principal Griffieth, which said details included in the Post article contained “inaccuracies and incomplete information,” but the district did not respond to questions from the Post asking what portions of the article or the lawsuit Griffieth was referring to.

Protesters communicate with people driving by in front of Muir Academy. Photo by Tess Kazenoff.

Griffieth’s letter said she could not discuss details of the situation because of student privacy laws and the pending litigation, but, she wrote, “Please know that we take matters regarding student safety very seriously, and we’ve taken measures to ensure the safety of your children.”

Parents also brought their concerns to the Board of Education meeting on Wednesday evening. One parent said she has told her children to not go to the bathroom or walk in the hallways alone.

“Why do I have to tell my third grader, my fifth grader to do this when it’s the school’s responsibility?” she said.

Board President Diana Craighead acknowledged that the board was unable to speak to those concerns during its meeting, but she said that the board appreciated the parents’ presence and that “we are listening.”

David Zaid, assistant superintendent, noted that he had met with parents outside of the district headquarters, and had taken down names and phone numbers.

“I plan on following up with the parents,” he said during the meeting.