A request from Superintendent Susan Pratt to appoint Ann Kirkpatrick as the RSU 40/MSAD 40 Affirmative Action Officer was denied when the district’s board of director’s met June 21.
Kirkpatrick, the Warren Community School and Friendship Village Elementary School Principal, has been serving in that capacity without a formal appointment and Pratt said the action would enable her to receive more training.
In an emotional speech at the start of the meeting, a Friendship mother told the board that her child was being bullied and the district’s response was inadequate. The woman said she has been asking for help for more than three months.
She said that, in spite of assurances from Kirkpatrick, there has been no followup and her child is still being bullied. She said between two and four students participated in the activity, but that “mob rule would take over” and other students got involved.
As a result, the woman’s child was saying she was sick and asking to stay home. This was reflected in the child’s report card, she said.
The student was falling behind in a subject and a request for help from a teacher met with the response that the teacher was too busy, the mother said. She said she had an email message to back up this statement.
The mother said children are taught at the school that they may not tattle and feel they cannot tell authorities when they are being mistreated.
“When they are older and really bad things happen, there’s no help from teachers,” she said. She said her child was harassed on Facebook. She showed the Internet site to Kirkpatrick and was told that the principal had seen worse, she said.
“I was left with a feeling of helplessness,” the mother said. She said she heard another student talk during a field trip, about asking to be homeschooled, so that she could avoid bullies at FVS.
Superintendent Susan Pratt told the board the district needs to revisit the situation. “I think our policies are good,” she said. “We need to refresh our learning as administrators and teachers.”
Board member Lynda Letteney said the district has an obligation, even if the activity takes place outside of school, to follow up on Internet bullying.
“Kids repeat what they see on Facebook,” Letteney said.
The board discussed forming a committee to look into bullying and review policies in that regard.
Board member Francis Cross said parents need to exercise all options to protect their children, including letters to newspapers and even calling the police, if necessary.
Later in the meeting, the board heard from Technology Director Linda Trenholm, who said she had recently conducted two-days of in-depth staff training on cyber-bullying and digital citizenship.
“We do go into the schools,” Trenholm said. “I have information in place for families and teachers.” She added there was a course on the subject for students at the Miller School.
Trenholm said it was difficult to block sites, because students can figure out how to get through the blocks.
“Our best resource is information and guidance,” Trenholm said. She said it was not a large issue and only involved a small percentage of students. Trenholm reminded the board that Facebook requires users to be 13-years-old or older and that younger users must lie in order to use the social network.
When the time came to consider Kirkpatrick’s appointment as the district’s Affirmative Action Officer, Letteney said she had reservations, in light of what the board had heard at the start of the meeting.
“It’s about harassment, not just bullying,” Pratt said. “I have asked her to be retrained this year.”
After an affirmative answer to board member Cynthia Rosen’s questions as to whether another district employee could receive the training, the board voted against appointing Kirkpatrick. Pratt said she would return to the board with another nominee.
“I don’t know who at this time,” Pratt said.
