On Jan 29, 2025, at Central Middle School in Waterloo, Iowa, a student reported an incident between them and a staff member to a trusted adult. The child’s mother, Haley Broten, went to a school board meeting on Feb 10, 2025 where she explained the incident in detail.

The mother at the board meeting shared that her child “was beckoned to a secluded area where a staff member unbuckled his belt and asked my son to re-buckle it due to his broken wrist.” Broten states that the student responded with how uncomfortable they were and that the staff member should ask another adult. The staff member allegedly continued to pressure the student until they complied and buckled the staff member’s belt while it was still on him.

In the mother’s retelling of the story, after the incident the student told a trusted adult about the incident, the adult then took the student to the principal’s office. On the way to the office, the student decided to start an audio recording on their phone. “The principals comments and lack of concern were alarming,” says Broten. On the recording, the principal had allegedly told the student “What do you want me to do about it?” as well as “I’ll just tell that staff member not to ask you to help with those things anymore.”

The principal then proceeded to allegedly tell the student, “he just has some questions for you,” as he was putting the child into a secluded room with the alleged staff member. According to Broten, the student continued recording while he was in the room for ten minutes with the staff member. The staff member was allegedly cussing, name-calling, and pressing the child about who else they had told about the incident. After some time, the child was reportedly let out of the room and allowed to leave.

Broten went on to tell the school board on February 10 that “the recorded conversations were then turned in to the principal, student services and superintendent.” According to her, neither the principal nor the staff member had been punished at that point after almost two weeks since the incident had occurred. “My child no longer feels comfortable in this district,” Broten shared.

Following the incident, the Waterloo Community School District wrote in a Facebook post on February 12 that “The District is aware of an incident involving a student and a staff member at Central Middle School. Immediately upon learning of the incident, the staff member was placed on administrative leave.” They then explained that the district and local law enforcement had investigated the allegations. During the investigation, “the staff member resigned instead of pursuing an Iowa Code 279 termination hearing.” Iowa’s News Now wrote an article about the situation and claimed the Waterloo local police had found that no crime was committed.