RAF MILDENHALL — The Lakenheath and Mildenhall community School Advisory Board agreed to explore initiatives for improved crosswalk safety and transportation options for middle school students playing high school sports at an open meeting Wednesday at RAF Mildenhall.

The board also agreed to look into the investigation of an alleged assault on a Lakenheath Middle School student, whose mother charged that the case was mishandled by school officials.

The latter item arose during a discussion about the possibility of adding volunteer parent monitors to some school buses to supervise students’ behavior.

When talk turned to whether there had been any “serious” incidents on school buses recently, Patricia Bennett, mother of three children in the local Department of Defense Dependents Schools system, stood to challenge officials on the handling of what she claimed was an assault on her son on a bus.

Bennett contended that middle school officials hadn’t investigated the matter comprehensively or punished the suspected assailants properly, claims that school officials refuted.

“The issue was thoroughly investigated,” said Lakenheath Middle School Principal Lesley Dunkle. Chief of Staff for DODDS Isles District Leo Orlando added that the school’s investigation had been complicated by the involvement of Ministry of Defense Police, to which Bennett also reported the alleged incident.

Board members agreed to look into the matter further at their next regular meeting, a closed session.

In the latter half of Wednesday’s meeting, discussion was dominated by talk of whether middle school students playing high school sports could be provided bus transportation to daily practices to ease the burden on parents.

Board members agreed that current Air Force policy precluded such an option, but agreed to look at the Air Force Instruction on the matter to see if any other options were available.