Allegations of bullying and racial slurs have rocked Francis Walsh Intermediate School in Connecticut.
At a May 18 school board meeting, Orit Avizov shared that her son was savagely beaten up by other students.
The alleged bullies were yelling “Kill the Jew!” while beating her son, the child told her afterwards.
Avizov’s allegation prompted multiple media reports and other parents have joined, saying their kids have been bullied too.
Hamlet Hernandez, superintendent of Branford School District that includes Walsh Intermediate, said the district “is committed to ensuring each school maintains a safe environment for all students” and “strongly condemns inappropriate behavior toward any student, including bullying, violence and racial attacks,” according to local news site BranfordSeven.com.
Avizov, and other parents, feel the school administration hasn’t done enough.
She reported the incident to the U.S. Department of Justice.
In her report, cited by BranfordSeven, she described the events like this:
On Jan. 22, when she was picking up her son, he eventually crawled to meet her at the dismissal area. He said he went to his locker during dismissal and, while there were no teachers or administrator around, 20 kids attacked him, yelling “Kill the Jew! Jews don’t deserve anything nice! Give us all your money!”
He said they pushed him into the locker, pushed him to the ground, kicked him in his stomach, ribs, and legs, and smashed his head into the lockers.
“He said he was too hurt to stand and had to crawl to me,” Avizov wrote.
Parents said they were told a security camera that covers the locker area captured the incident, but they were not shown the footage.
Two of the alleged bullies received in-school suspension and one, allegedly a repeated offender, was suspended and assigned an adult aide. This student is from New Haven and attends the school as part of a program called Open Choice that allows inner city children to attend suburban schools and vice versa.
Parents reported the aide isn’t with the student all the time, and even when the aide is present, the student has made verbal threats to other students.
Avizov remained concerned about the administration’s response.
“There is no safety plan put in place for our son. I do not feel our son is safe. My son does not feel safe,” she wrote.
The school administration didn’t comment on the specifics of the case, citing privacy laws.
