Pilgrim student assaulted on bus, police arrest 2 girls

By Tessa Roy
Posted 2/21/17

By TESSA ROY A Pilgrim parent said her daughter was taken to the emergency room after receiving multiple blows to the head on a school bus last Wednesday. The parent, who preferred not to be named so the identity of her daughter could be protected, said

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Pilgrim student assaulted on bus, police arrest 2 girls

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A Pilgrim parent said her daughter was taken to the emergency room after receiving multiple blows to the head on a school bus last Wednesday.

The parent, who preferred not to be named so the identity of her daughter could be protected, said her daughter first had a bit of a heated exchange in a hallway with two sisters. Her daughter had been talking loudly, so one of the sisters yelled an obscenity at her, she said. The parent then detailed their later encounter on the bus: her daughter retorted after one of the sisters called her a foul name, which led the older sister to reach over the seat and punch her daughter in the face and head multiple times, the younger one joining in soon after.

“My daughter had no defense,” she said.

After that, the parent said, the driver kicked the sisters off the bus and brought her daughter to the nurse. She added that Assistant Principal Pamela Bernardi contacted her and the police, who she claims spoke with the sisters and later arrested them after she said she wanted to press charges.

Deputy Chief Babula confirmed that the older sister was charged with disorderly conduct and assault, the younger sister was charged with disorderly conduct, and that no visible injuries to the girl who was assaulted were observed on the scene

The parent said she brought her daughter, who had a bloody nose from the incident, to the emergency room, where she was monitored for a concussion.

The two sisters, the parent said, were suspended for 10 days. Though she notes, “The principal did what he could; his hands are tied to a certain extent and I understand that,” she’s not satisfied. She feels bullying and violence at the schools is “out of control” and that the issue is not being properly addressed.

“In my opinion, suspension is a vacation for a kid, not a punishment,” she said.

The parent also said she has been in contact with Secondary Director Bob Littlefield. She said he informed her that he, Superintendent Philip Thornton, Assistant Principal Pamela Bernardi and Principal Gerry Habershaw had communicated about the incident and that the case would go through an investigation process before any further action is taken.

Thornton said the schools could not legally comment on student discipline matters, but that “Any reports of bullying are investigated and acted upon by the administration in each school.”

As of Friday, the parent said her daughter was a little sore but doing better.

“She's gotten a lot of support from her friends, my outreach, and from the community,” she said. “It made a big difference to know I'm not the only parent outraged.”

Since sharing her account with other parents, she said she has heard even more stories about students being bullied. That worries her.

“It’s just too much of an increase of violence in schools and not feeling as a parent that you can send your kids to school safely,” she said.

The Pilgrim parent’s story comes just two weeks after another reported case of bullying at Toll Gate went public. A mother had posted on Facebook that her daughter had been harassed and threatened via text message by another student; one message was said to have included a photo with the student holding a gun. Thornton released a statement to reassure worried parents that their students were safe after the mother’s post was shared hundreds of times. Both the police and a relative of the accused bully said the student had been through psychiatric evaluations. Police also said they didn’t feel the student had access to firearms or presented a danger.

Littlefield could not be reached for comment.

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  • VoWarwick2017

    I don't think the school has the nerve to deal with the problem, they are so concerned that their might be piles of "special circumstances" that drove the attackers -- maybe they were extra depressed because they missed their ADHD pills -- so it is impossible for them to take a side. That is in the end why the schools refuse to do anything about bullying, because that would force them to take a side and the side they didn't take would have the anger parents yelling "Why didn't you take our kid's side? you must be racist, homophobic, "anti-something that we are"!"

    In this case; however, I think it is clear that there was an assault. The parents of the victim should press charges against the attackers. An extreme response, maybe but when are we going to start teaching our kids that there are consequences for their actions?

    Wednesday, February 22, 2017 Report this

  • Kammy

    The parents did press charges. "Deputy Chief Babula confirmed that the older sister was charged with disorderly conduct and assault, the younger sister was charged with disorderly conduct." The school has followed their procedures and hopefully once the suspension is through the girls will keep their distance. It is a police matter at this point and the school's hands are tied UNLESS something happens on school grounds (or bus). I would be driving my child to school from now on and ensuring that my daughter is protected as much as possible. I would not be relying on the school to do it for me.

    Wednesday, February 22, 2017 Report this