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Heidi Teska, president of the PTO at H.W. Smith K-8 School, at her home in Syracuse.

(Scott Schild | sschild@syracuse.com)

The president of the Parent-Teacher Organization at H.W. Smith K-8 School in Syracuse says she is upset that parents were never notified of a sexual assault at the school two weeks ago.

"This was a random attack and it could have been any kid in the school, and that concerns me," Heidi Teska said. "Parents should be notified of stuff like that. What if it's my daughter next?"

She said she doesn't believe teachers were officially notified of the assault either.

"My concern is that our district administration is soft-pedaling it," she said.

The assault occurred Nov. 6, and rumors had been swirling about it ever since. Teska, who said she found out about it from another parent, brought it into the public light at a school board hearing on an interim code of conduct Wednesday.

When The Post-Standard asked Superintendent Sharon Contreras about the incident after the meeting, she said a boy forced a girl into a bathroom while another boy guarded the door. She said the boy kissed the girl and then let her go, and that the incident was classified as a sexual assault.

"He kissed her and she walked out of the bathroom," she said. "... She was not harmed. What was disturbing was that they pushed someone into a bathroom against their will."

Syracuse police gave a much different account of the incident.

Sgt. Tom Connellan said police were called by the school to investigate the incident the day after it happened. He said three boys forced a 12-year-old girl into the boy's bathroom, where a 13-year-old boy groped the girl's private parts over her clothes.

The two other boys held the bathroom door closed. The boy who groped the girl was charged with forcible touching, Connellan said. The two boys who held the door closed -- one 13, the other 14 -- were charged with unlawful imprisonment.

"One boy grabs her, pulls her in," he said. "They hold the door closed while the other boy touches her."

Contreras, who is out of town at a conference, could not be immediately reached for comment on the discrepancy.

Teska said she found out about the incident from a parent who was close to it. She said she informed other parents about it at a PTO meeting Monday night and made sure it was included in the minutes.

She said she believes there should be a mandate in the code of conduct that the district notify parents when there are "random acts of violence or situations in the school that have the potential to put our children in danger."

"We know that children have brought weapons into the school, we know that they're bringing drugs into the school," she said. "Those are situations I think parents need to be aware of so we can educate our kids on how to protect themselves."

She said she is also concerned that two of the boys served suspensions and are back in the school with the victim, and that the boy who forcibly touched the girl could be headed back to the school when his suspension is up.

(District communications coordinator Michael Henesey said today that two of the three boys are still on suspension outside of school.)

People close to the PTO are working with the mother of the victim to see if she can get an order of protection against the boy, she said.

Staff writer Marnie Eisenstadt contributed to this report. Contact Paul Riede at priede@syracuse.com or 470-3260. Follow him on Twitter at @PaulRiede.