A 17-year-old former Springs student called in to a work session of the Springs School Board on Tuesday night to share a bombshell of a comment. The board was reviewing the school’s state-mandated procedures for documenting and dealing with student-on-student bullying, harassment, and discrimination, a public-school support system known as Dignity for All Students.
“Your presentation sounds great,” the young caller told the school board, “but you never follow through with any of it. You don’t realize the damage that is being done to kids when you don’t handle these situations properly,” she said. “I’ve been in years of therapy. I’ve been diagnosed with severe depression, anxiety, and panic disorders, as well as P.T.S.D., for my multiple bullying incidents and, worst of all, my sexual assault when I was 10 years old at the Springs School. You have to do better for the families and the children for the childhood you ripped away.”
Debra Winter, the district superintendent, could not comment in detail on the teenager’s allegations but said, “Please know we are following up” in a text message yesterday morning.
Tuesday’s work session, attended by about 20 parents and teachers in person and viewed by at least 40 more people on the live YouTube broadcast, lasted until nearly 10 p.m. Following a DASA presentation by the school principal, Erik Kelt, the school board opened up the floor for public comment. The former student’s comment came amid other claims by some Springs parents on Tuesday night that bullying and harassment issues have not been addressed in a satisfactory way.
The district’s DASA policy is posted on its website, springsschool.org, with a detailed PowerPoint presentation available to be downloaded from the “BoardDocs” database.
Steven and Nicole O’Brien, parents of two Springs students, including one with special education needs, pleaded with school officials to step up supervision of students, to follow through on consequences for offenders, and increase communication with parents.
“Children are suffering socially, emotionally, physically. . . . The consequences are not fitting the actions,” Ms. O’Brien said. “The policy, the infractions, the codes — they all contradict each other. I’m having a really hard time as a parent with children in this school figuring out where to go so we can progress and actually get children help.”
“A lot of the incidences aren’t happening in classrooms. It’s the bus. It’s the playground,” Mr. O’Brien said, encouraging the district officials to view bus-camera footage of the incidents in which his son, a third grader, was bullied. There have been four so far, until the recent placement of a bus monitor on the vehicle.
Pat Brabant, a Springs board member, suggested that parents should be more involved in the home setting with preventing bullying.
“When you say, Pat, that bullying should be controlled at home, not all parents are as responsible or socially ethical as you may be," Mr. O'Brien said. “Some parents don’t care. And some parents aren’t being notified that your kid is smacking a third grader. That falls on the school, not on the parents. Parents are a part of it 100 percent, but we need help from the school.”
A few weeks ago, Ms. O’Brien posted about the issue on social media. She said yesterday morning that she had received about 160 emails and direct messages from other parents with similar stories.
Two Springs teachers, Monique Sullivan and Ashley Dellapolla, called in to defend the district as very responsive to the students’ needs.
“Learning can’t take place if kids do not feel safe and if they do not feel like someone is hearing them. . . . We immediately get administrators involved and parents are contacted,” said Ms. Sullivan, a second-grade teacher whose own children attend Springs. “I do think it’s important to acknowledge that those things are happening. . . . We can always improve upon things and every situation is going to be so different. When people are getting up and speaking in absolutes, you are talking about a situation that you were not even present for.”
“Every time something has been reported to me, it has been handled and it has been handled well,” Ms. Dellapolla, also a second-grade teacher, said.
Barbara Dayton, the school board president, responded Tuesday night to the parents’ and former student’s comments by saying, “We have a very good administration here who we are very confident in and are a very caring group of people, but we will certainly follow up on the conversations we’ve had this evening.”
Mr. Kelt summed up the district response yesterday, saying that “all feedback is good feedback. While all issues that arise are addressed in a quick and proper manner according to policies and proper protocol, we will continue to collaborate and adapt to make Springs School the very best it can be.”
“Our teachers work extremely hard each day to make sure all students feel welcomed and cared for,” he said. “Our teachers make connections with students and excel at fostering a real community. I walk through the school and go into classrooms every day, and what I see are happy students, smiling students. . . . Springs School is truly a wonderful place, filled with love and support.”
Budget Discussion
The earlier part of Tuesday’s work session was a discussion of budget needs for facilities operations and maintenance, which have increased over the last few years, now that the major expansion and renovation of the campus is complete.
The district is proposing bringing grounds care and athletic-field maintenance in-house with the hiring of an additional employee and the purchase of new equipment. After an initial investment of $161,348, this system would save the district about $88,000 a year in money it will not have to spend on outside contractors.
Officials also floated an idea that would enable Springs to provide free breakfast and lunch to all students by working with the East Hampton School District as a provider. School board members agreed that the idea, with a price tag of about $105,150 for the first year, including some one-time equipment purchases, needed fine-tuning and data to back it up.
The district is also looking at about $250,000 in repairs and repaving of the School Street bus loop; new flooring for three classrooms, for about $50,500; new lockers for $38,000, and a new teacher’s work station in the science lab for $15,000.
The next budget workshop, addressing curriculum, teaching, and special education, is planned for March 12 at 7 p.m. Districts are to adopt their budgets by April 23, and the community is set to vote on the proposal on May 21.