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Thursday, May 17, 2012

Crisfield Mom Speaks Out About Child Bullied on School Bus

CRISFIELD, Md.- Most afternoons 7-year-old first-grader Caleb Marshall rides the school bus home from Carter G. Woodson Elementary School in Crisfield. However, his mother Jenna Howard said this past Friday's ride home turned into a horrible nightmare for her son.
"He was just shaking and crying I have never ever seen any child let alone my child that upset," Howard said.

She said her son told her that another boy physically hurt him while they were riding on the school bus together.

"He punched me and kicked me on the side of the head and then knocked me on the ground," Caleb said. "And then he was hanging onto the seat and started stomping me on the head."

The act was caught on a camera that is installed inside of the bus. Howard asked school officials to see the tape but she said they denied her request.
"What good are the cameras if me as a concerned parent whose child got attacked is not allowed to see them?" Howard said.

The board acknowledged that such a video exists and issued the following statement:

"We have completed our investigation regarding the bus incident that occurred on Friday, May 11th. The policy that governs a parent having access to video surveillance is posted on our website. We will not release the details of the investigation as that information is considered a part of the student record. Per the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), we are only allowed to share the information with the parent/legal guardian. Parents of the children involved have been given the appropriate information. As far as the video, we will adhere to our policy and procedures as outlined in policy #600-42."

Howard said the board's attitude toward this incident is unsettling.

"Seeing my child getting attacked like that who knows why he was even being attacked," she said. "It just seems like nothing is going to be done about it."

The student who attacked Caleb has been charged while the case is currently being handled by the Department of Juvenile Services.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

My son was attacked repeatdly on Mr Bordens bus 58....which is currently Mr Hank's bus 4...We had 16 incidents where my son was repeatedly punched and my 5 yr daughter was thrown into a window by a 12 year old....the school told me to tell my son to avoid eye contact.....The police had arrested this kid because school did nothing