The big news at the Nov. 19 Richland-Bean Blossom Community School Corporation school board meeting was supposed to be the resignation of RBBCSC Superintendent Steven Kain, but it was overshadowed by allegations from several parents and students of consistent and severe bullying.
All board members were present as parent after parent, then student after student, told them of alleged incidents of violence occurring on school grounds leading to further incidents off school property.
Cindy Chavez, a parent who had pulled her son out of the RBBCSC school system because of bullying, was there to represent Edgewood Junior High School student Lydia’s grandparents. According to Chavez, Lydia was beaten up by four girls at the junior high school.
“Two weeks ago, she was ganked in between classes and beaten brutally by four girls,” Chavez reported. “They’ve got video. The police were brought in, she was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance after going into seizure. One of the girls, after they had made her pass out from beating, repeatedly kneed her in the head over and over and over again until she went into seizure. At that point in time, somebody pulled the girl off.”
She went on to say Lydia received a CT scan and was cleared to go back to school some time later, though she was afraid. After speaking with administrators at the school, Lydia and her grandparents were assured that missed assignments would be excused, however, Chavez said, that never happened.
“She freaked out” after learning she had received an F on each of her missed assignments, Chavez said. “She read the Facebook posts where the girls were threatening to kill her and how all the things they were doing to hunt her down. She took her grandmother’s medication. At that point in time, she went in, she told her grandmother what she had done. She died this morning.”
RBBCSC Assistant Superintendent Carol Gardiner briefly left the meeting in tears. It was some time before she was able to regain herself.
After being flown into Riley Hospital for Children, hospital attendants were able to revive Lydia, but she remained in a coma as of 7 p.m. Nov. 19.
Following Chavez’s comments, six more parents, students and former students would take to the podium to report on other incidents, as well as add to the information about what happened to Lydia.
The school board chose not to address the issue immediately but to speak with those reporting the incidents after the meeting in private. During the board comments, Board Secretary Dana Kerr teared up as he commended the group for their heart and courage in bringing this to their attention.
“I really appreciate them coming up and saying some very personal things that were probably very difficult for them to do,” he said. “It shows that our students do have a lot of class. It’s a difficult subject. I think that with the level of what was spoken here tonight, I would like to see that we put together a group to look into what has been said, to look into what we are doing, to look into what we can do better.”
Board member Larry Thrasher, Board Vice President Jimmie Durnil and Board President Randy Wright echoed Kerr’s sentiments. Board member Debra Walcott suggested a volunteer initiative that would provide a place for kids in trouble to have some place to go when they need to talk. All members of the board expressed that their thoughts and prayers would be with those students experiencing bullying.
Other business of the evening included the retirements of Kain, effective June 30, 2013, and nurse Eileen Goss, effective April 30, 2013.
“I was fortunate enough to entice him to come back this last time, and I said for a couple of years,” Durnil said of Kain. “He stayed five, so we appreciate that, and what a great time we’ve had with him.”
“Thank you Mr. Kain,” Wright said. “You were here when I got on the board. You kind of directed me and guided me, smacked my hand a few times, gave me praise a few times. I really appreciate what you’ve done.”
Kain said that he had initially offered to help the school board in its selection of a new superintendent but no longer thought that was a good idea. He expressed concern that being involved in the process might label the next superintendent as his hand-selected successor.
“At this point, I don’t think it would be a good idea for me to get involved,” Kain said.
Other personnel changes included the appointment of Micah Mobley as head coach of the Edgewood High School boys track team, Matt Ray as assistant coach of the EHS boys swimming team, and Nicole Denney as head coach of the EJHS eighth grade girls basketball team.
Edgewood Primary School Principal Brenda Whitaker, Edgewood Intermediate School Administrative Assistant Glenn Hopkins, who was substituting for Principal Debra Ferree, who was recovering from surgery, Stinesville Elementary School Principal Bill Buxton, EJHS Principal Melissa Pogue, and EHS Assistant Principal Jerry Bland gave presentations to the board about the grades their schools received from the new state assessment criteria and how they intend to improve upon them.
Edgewood Primary and Intermediate schools both received a D due to low growth among the bottom 25% of performers and low growth for their top 75% of performers. They will be beginning a program of quarterly assessment tests, which will allow them to identify issues individual students are having and address them on a one-to-one basis.
SES received a B but, because of the nature of the assessment, could not possibly have received an A.
EJHS echoed the plans of the primary and intermediate schools to deal with its C grade.
EHS got an A, but told the board it intended to do what it could to improve its scores in English, citing a plan to help students who were on the bubble when it came to passing high-stakes tests.
Pogue was awarded Principal of the Year for her district.
“It’s quite an honor to be selected by your peers,” Kain said. “That’s who does this. I’m really proud of her and want to salute her on that honor that she got.”
Policy changes proposed at last month’s school board meeting were unanimously approved, as was a field trip for the EHS wrestling team to Evansville, Indiana, for competition.
Gardiner, who took a professional development trip to China during the last month, promised a report on her trip would be forthcoming.
The next school board meeting will be held at the School Service Center boardroom on Dec. 17, 2012, at 7 p.m.
Originally published in Ellettsville Journal, 2012. Republished here for archival and portfolio purposes.