On the heels of scathing allegations of sexual and other misconduct against officers in the Alaska Army National Guard, the Anchorage School District has halted all military recruiting at its schools indefinitely, according to Heidi Embley, district spokeswoman.
Ed Graff, district superintendent, started alerting all branches of the military Monday that they could no longer recruit on school property until they met individually with Graff to "discuss student safety and other issues," Embley said.
Embley said Graff's action came in the wake of media reports on leaked investigative files that describe sexual misconduct in the Alaska Army National Guard, some accounts involving high school students.
According to the files, a former student at Dimond High School in Anchorage said that an officer repeatedly asked her out on dates. The woman said that the officer told her she was pretty and that her eyes “stunned” him. When he tried to take her to his home, she jumped out of the car and used a stranger’s phone to call her father for help.
Two other former Dimond High students said the same officer invited them to parties where there would be alcohol. They were underage. A sergeant said the officer bragged about having sex with several people, including a high school student, according to the files prepared between 2010 and 2014.
The Alaska National Guard expressed disappointment in the school district and claims to have replaced all the bad apples, but it is really hard to blame the school district for demonstrating caution.
Besides I actually think that it would be a great thing is recruiters were simply kept out of high school from now on. It was one of the worst features of the No Child Left Behind Act and I think it is time for it to come to an end.
