When they send their children to school each day, parents are entrusting their treasures to an institution with a sacred duty to protect them, Rachel Waite said outside Wiscasset School Department's Central Office May 26.

The Class of 2001 Wiscasset High School member has a 2025 Wiscasset Middle High School graduate and a 2026 WMHS graduate-to-be. Waite and about 20 other people stood in the evening sun and shade, one week after WMHS senior D’Antae Dawkins, 18, allegedly committed aggravated assault against eighth grader Gavin James, 14, in the school gym.

Inside Central Office, also the night of May 26, resident Chet Grover told the school committee what the James family has had to go through is "absolutely shameful." He called out the committee as the governing body that needs to prevent such incidents by, as he has asked before, keeping the middle and high schoolers apart.

He told the committee, it is “her boss,” the her being Superintendent of Schools Dr. Kim Andersson.

James’ mother Ashley James told the meeting, for four days running, she had not been getting responses to her emails. "My son was assaulted, and you're going to ignore me ... Unacceptable." On advice of legal counsel, she was done talking, she said. 

The statements came in public comment, which the committee added to the agenda at the request of school committee member, and Grover’s son, Brycson Grover; a week before the alleged aggravated assault for which Dawkins was charged, Brycson Grover had started a school committee discussion about separating the middle and high schoolers. 

Waite and then Chet Grover addressed fellow protesters. The event was billed on Facebook as a peaceful protest for student safety and for accountability and change.

With husband Scott James, Gavin’s father, nearby, Ashley James held a sign saying her son had deserved a peaceful end of the year. “If this happened to your child, you’d be loud, too,” the sign read. “I won’t back down. Protect kids, not careers.” 

When he spoke to the committee, Chet Grover recalled the primary school’s 2015 closing and a promise the upper and lower grades would be kept separate. Over a year ago, he brought up to Andersson the need to keep 12th grade boys and sixth grade girls apart, he said. 

“There seems to be a little bit of a culture of avoidance here with some of the issues that have arisen in the school … I think the board has to do some soul-searching here. The board runs this district … You are her boss. You tell her what to do,” he said, pointing toward Andersson. “And I haven’t seen it yet.”

Asked May 27 for any comment on the public comments the night before, Andersson said: "As you know, procedurally, the school committee does not respond to public comment at their business meetings. The public is invited to observe and share comments if they choose. Still, I always consider what has been shared during this time and invite anyone who would like to discuss comments further to reach out to me directly."

Wiscasset Newspaper has also sought any comment from Chair Tracey Whitney. In the meeting, committee members did not comment on the public comment they'd just heard. 

The meeting was called for the latest in a series of executive sessions on the yearly evaluation of the superintendent. Asked May 27 if the committee anticipated further discussions to finish the evaluation, Andersson said: "No, that's all done." The evaluation is a personnel record and "not for public consumption," she explained when Wiscasset Newspaper asked when it would be available. 

In the protest, Chet Grover repeated some of the points he'd made inside. He added, what happened May 19 was tragic, and the community deserves better.

In an interview outside, Brycson Grover, speaking  as a taxpayer, not a school committee member, said he supports any peaceful protest that has a good reason behind it. He said he completely supported that one. "I think safety, accountability is a huge thing ... so I'm definitely happy that parents are speaking up."