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Bullying concerns raised at Ogdensburg school board meeting

Posted 11/22/17

By THOMAS LUCKIE III OGDENSBURG -- Several citizens spoke on the public record regarding student bullying before the Ogdensburg City School District Board of Education and administration at …

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Bullying concerns raised at Ogdensburg school board meeting

Posted

By THOMAS LUCKIE III

OGDENSBURG -- Several citizens spoke on the public record regarding student bullying before the Ogdensburg City School District Board of Education and administration at Monday’s meeting.

Recent photos of a bullied Ogdensburg Free Academy student have been shared more than 3,400 times on Facebook and ignited much online discussion.

Trudy Dishaw, a concerned parent who shared the photos in a public Facebook post on Oct. 28, sought answers to the reasons behind the recommendation that her daughter return to school grounds to be tutored after being home tutored due to ongoing bullying. Dishaw claimed the bullying has been going on for two years and has also included multiple complaints to the police department.

“This is an ongoing situation and I think something really needs to be done,” Dishaw said.

OFA High School Principal Cindy Tuttle pointed out it was inappropriate to discuss a student matter at a public meeting and offered to meet in private, but Dishaw continued pressing for answers and presented photos to the board and administration.

District Superintendent Timothy Vernsey spoke of the general procedures for tutoring students outside of school.

“We tutor students in multiple places, the library, the Boys and Girls Club. My understanding is that somebody made the recommendation,” Vernsey said, referring to the recommendation for Dishaw’s daughter to return to OFA for tutoring.

“I don’t have a problem with adjusting that. There’s nothing that says she has to be tutored at school,” Vernsey added.

“Why somebody said she should be tutored here, I don’t know, but I’ll tell you what, we’re gonna find out tomorrow,” Vernsey said.

Earlier in the meeting, Board of Education Vice President Michael Myers suggested the district was in need of a resource officer while discussing the Smart Schools Investment Plan for the current school year.

“I like that we’re putting a lot of money into security and everything, but is there any way we can use some of this to get a resource officer back?” Myers asked.

The question resulted in some applause from several citizens in attendance at the meeting.

Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum, Instruction, Assessment and Technology Kevin Kendall quickly clarified that those funds only applied to technological equipment.

“The moneys associated with the Smart Schools Bond Act cannot be used to purchase the services of a full-time employee. They can only be for upgrades to hardware, to software, to infrastructure,” Kendall said.

“With everything that’s going on, a resource officer I think would be a lot better than a better camera, as far as I’m concerned, but maybe we can look into doing it some other way,” Myers said.

An online petition at Change.org advocating for the return of a student resource officer to OFA had garnered over 200 signatures as of Tuesday evening.

Two other citizens and a student also offered remarks on bullying at the meeting.

Board of Education President Ronald Johnson noted that the district has several bullying programs in place and recently held an event addressing the issue in the OFA auditorium.

View the petition: https://www.change.org/p/ogdensburg-city-school-district-board-of-education-a-resource-officer-is-needed-back-at-ogdensburg-free-academy