By John Kerrigan
At the March 23 Harwood Unified Union School District Board meeting, the board heard from a Fayston parent whose son was allegedly assaulted by students in a school bathroom on February 1.
During her allotted time, she expressed concern for the safety of her son and the well being of all students at Harwood. She remarked that since the incident, her son is uncomfortable attending school. He has done some of his lessons at home.
She said upon his return to Harwood, he had food thrown in his face in the cafeteria. She is so concerned that she acquired stalking orders against the assaulters.
She is upset with the Harwood principals’ lack of action. She said the principals were warned on January 31, that her son was to be “jumped the next day.”
Erika Nichols-Frazer of The Valley Reporter asked co-principal Megan McDonough for her reaction to the incident. McDonough suggested that students need to fix the problem. “If their peers take more initiative than the students will likely listen to them more. Over the past three months, five skilled youth facilitators have been providing dialogue and training to 50 of their peers,” she wrote.
On March 23, the Harwood board heard from Harwood student council spokesperson Maisie Franke who shared the results of school-wide, hour-long student meetings that took place in individual TAs. Students in all TAs were given the opportunity to express their concerns about student safety.
In her summary of the meetings, Franke shared the communication from students. There were two main points determined by the students:
- “Not all students feel safe at school. Harwood needs safe places where students can go to take a mental break, receive support and recharge.”
- And this next point, which she says “came up a ton,” “Teachers and admin need to enforce rules and be direct about consequences through real communication and follow through.”
When Warren board member Jonathan Young asked her if she has brought these concerns to the administration, she said yes. He asked Franke, “If the principals have indicated that there was any action they have taken and have they expressed them to you guys?” (The students) She couldn’t answer yes or no.
Think about all of the instructional time that was utilized for these TA meetings add to that faculty and staff time. I would hope with all of that time and money invested in the TA meetings that the administration would take action on the students’ recommendations.
So, there it is. Several students in the school bathroom assault a student. (The principals were forewarned) The parent of the assaulted student expresses that the principals did nothing to protect her child before or after the incident.
Co-principal McDonough deferred to the students to solve school safety problems. The student council representative summarizes the results of student dialog. The main point of her summary states, “that the administration needs to enforce rules and be direct about consequences through real communication and follow through.”
Well Ms. McDonough, this has become Harwood’s version of March Madness.
The ball is in your court.
Kerrigan lives in Duxbury.
