Concerns Of Bullying Raised At School Board Meeting

By Laurie Borst

Allegations of bullying prompted several parents to speak out Tuesday’s Board of Education meeting, and by Wednesday Superintendent Evan Pitkoff was speaking with the Head O’ Meadow School principal and planning to meet with parents.

The superintendent said, “We need to make sure the signs of bullying are recognized and bullying is dealt with. We can’t have bullying in the schools.”

Tuesday night he heard parents’ complaints of possible bullying incidents at Head O’ Meadow School, which also included criticism of principal William Bircher’s response to their inquiries.

“We’re looking into both. We’re looking to see what the facts are and what the perceptions are,” Dr Pitkoff explained.

One parent had said the problems reach back to September.

“I don’t know what that means,” Dr Pitkoff said. He did mention a phone call to his office, which Assistant Superintendent Alice Jackson handled, and Dr Pitkoff will meet with the parents involved on Friday, April 13.

“We need to do fact finding to get to the bottom — to keep the schools a safe learning environment for all the children,” Dr Pitkoff said. He stressed that the Newtown district “has had a long history of being on the forefront of handling bullying.”

He also explained what he wants from his principals. “I expect a system in place to recognize, monitor, and remediate any and all bullying,” he said. The school district also has policies in place to prevent the torment.

“Bullying is something which the board of ed and the administration will not tolerate,” said board chair Elaine McClure. “I would expect, Dr Pitkoff, that you, personally, will be at Head O’ Meadow tomorrow. I would like you to please meet with the principal.

“I understand the assistant superintendent was there this morning, but we need you to be there. We should not have these parents worrying, nor the kids to be upset. Let’s make sure the problem is resolved.”

In another matter, Dr Pitkoff informed the board that the search for candidates to replace the building and grounds supervisor has been reopened. The initial search did not yield a suitable candidate. The administration felt the need to find a replacement with both strong trades skills and managerial skills.

The search for a new assistant principal at Sandy Hook School yielded 106 applications. Six candidates have been invited for interviews.

The board discussed the matter of parking at the high school. The number of available parking spaces and the number of students wishing to drive to school has led to a situation where students are parking in areas they should not.

Business owners have students taking up spots needed for customers. Students are parking in the commuter lot by Exit 11 and then trying to negotiate the morning rush hour traffic on Wasserman Way, leading to concerns about safety.

The field on Oakview Road behind the high school is now cordoned off to prevent parking there. The field is a very wet area that can become rutted and damaged with cars coming and going.

The board and administration are looking into possible solutions for the parking problem at Newtown High School.