East Aurora mother: District failed my bullied son

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Updated: January 13, 2012 8:04AM

This story involves a middle school special education student, an alleged assault, questioning of written statements, and a school district administration that maintains it did nothing wrong.

The student’s mother and several teachers at Aurora’s Simmons Middle School, however, are alleging the opposite.

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When Maria Vega’s son came home from Simmons Middle School in October complaining a boy had pulled down his pants — and boxer shorts — during gym class, Vega was upset. When she realized that nothing had been done about it, she became angry — and eventually made a tearful, public plea to the East Aurora School Board.

The incident had been referred to administrators, and both boys gave written statements to Assistant Principal John Young, but Vega said she never received a call from the school.

Instead, Young decided the offender’s account of the de-panting was sufficient, and corroborated by Vega’s son, so no disciplinary action was taken.

“On of his friend trip him an pulled my pants down on actitent I think,” the 12-year-old special ed student wrote on Oct. 17, following the gym class incident.

And for a few days, that was that.

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When she learned that no punishment had been handed down to the offender, Vega got involved. A Simmons teacher encouraged Vega to bring her concerns to Superintendent Jerome Roberts. Vega called Roberts’ office on Oct. 19, and her message was passed on to Marin Gonzalez, the assistant superintendent of secondary education.

On Oct. 21, Gonzalez had Simmons Principal Mechelle Patterson and Young call Vega’s son in so he could give a second statement. It is this statement that appears to have been partially written by someone else, Vega said.

“It’s not his handwriting,” Vega’s sister, Sylvia Caudillo, told Patterson when she and Vega went to retrieve the boy’s written allegations.

East Aurora School Board President Annette Johnson said Roberts and Patterson looked into Vega’s complaint and deemed her incorrect.

“They did not see any evidence that the student statement was tampered with,” she said. “The board has conducted its own investigation to make sure policy is in place at the central office so when complaints come in, they follow a chain of command. That appears to be working.”

The district’s law firm has also conducted an independent investigation and determined that the “administration acted rather thoughtfully,” Johnson said.

Vega said no statement should have been given by her son without her being present, or at least being made aware of the situation.

“I didn’t find out it happened until several days later,” she said. “My son has been bullied since fourth grade, and when he went to Oak Park (Elementary School), they called me any time something happened to my kids.”

At Simmons, the opposite has proven to be true, she said.

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One Simmons teacher, who asked not to be identified, said the action taken by Simmons administrators in Vega’s case is typical.

“At every faculty meeting we are told to keep the number of referrals down,” the teacher said. “It’s an image thing. ... If there are any bullies in our district, it’s the principal at our school.”

When referral papers are filled out, they never find their way back to the teachers’ desks, the employee alleged. Because of this, there is no way to know if any discipline was handed down. “This is so ridiculous, it makes me mad,” he said, adding that in his opinion administrators did not investigate the incident.

Johnson said that Young and Patterson relied on the statement, and did not investigate the situation further at that time. But the boy’s second statement clearly states he didn’t believe the offender when he said the de-panting happened by accident.

“I didn’t believe him when he said that,” Vega’s son wrote.

Young and Patterson, however, seemed content with the handling of the situation and dismissed the incident without further regard, Vega said.

Not satisfied with the administrators’ action, she brought her concerns to the School Board.

Johnson maintains that the board, Simmons’ administrators and the district have done everything according to school policy, but Vega isn’t satisfied with the outcome.

“There has been a noticeable difference in my son since he started at Simmons,” the mother said. “He does not want to get up in the morning, he walks around all mopey and has been put on antidepression medication.”

Kids push him during passing periods, and he has even been confronted in the bathroom, she added.

“I tell my kids to never bully anyone because I was bullied my whole life,” Vega said. “I forgot the other part about students bullying my kids.”