South Hadley Selectboard Looks to Form Youth Commission

South Hadley Selectboard Looks to Form Youth Commission

SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. (WGGB) -- In the wake of a South Hadley High School student taking her own life after allegedly being bullied, the Board of Selectmen discussed Tuesday the formation of a Youth Commission to tackle the issue of bullying in the schools.
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Students suspended over bullying

Students suspended over bullying
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
By SANDRA E. CONSTANTINE
sconstantine@repub.com

SOUTH HADLEY - School Superintendent Gus A. Sayer confirmed Tuesday that there have been some suspensions of high school students in the Phoebe Prince matter and that some of the students will face expulsion hearings.

Sayer declined to say how many students have been suspended, but said those actions were taken after Prince's Jan. 14 death.

High School principal Daniel T. Smith determines if a student should be expelled following a hearing. His decision can be appealed to Sayer, who can overturn Smith's determination.

Sayer's comments came the same day Selectboard members discussed creation of youth commission in the wake of the death of 15-year-old Prince following intense bullying. Prince is believed to have committed suicide in response to bullying at school as well as over social networking sites and through text messaging.

The Northwestern District Attorney's Office is investigating whether bullying precipitated the death of the ninth grade student at South Hadley High School.

Selectboard member Bruce S. MacCullagh suggested creation of the youth commission. The nine-member could include one high school aged person, he said.

"Right now we have a lot of people coming to us with suggestions about what needs to be done," he said.

The commission could deal with problems and challenges of young people in town, said Selectboard member Robert G. Judge.

Following Prince's death Smith launched his own investigation and Sayer said students who were found to have harassed the girl would face "the most serious consequences" including suspension, expulsion, and referral to police. Sayer said Tuesday discipline had been meted out before Phoebe's death also. "Students have been disciplined right along," he said.

He said two students were disciplined the week before Prince died, one of them for calling her a vulgar name during class. Sayer said school officials did not know about most of the harassment of Prince until after she died.

School officials said previously they would not identify students disciplined because that would be a civil rights violation. Such information is part of the student's personal, permanent record, officials said.

Town, firm clash over Texon building

By STEPHEN C. HILL
Staff Writer

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Saturday, February 13, 2010 Officials from both the Holyoke Gas & Electric Department and the town of South Hadley want to see the old Texon building demolished but disagree on how quickly and what measures should be taken.
Recently HG&E applied for an expedited permit from the Army Corps of Engineers to demolish the Texon Building, which it owns. "The building is unstable," said HG&E General Manger James Lavelle.

Meanwhile, town officials have written a letter to the Army Corps objecting to an expedited permit without a renewed commitment from HG&E to restore a significant portion of the historic canal, the first navigable canal in the country. The letter refers to a 2001 agreement on the demolition of the Texon building's boiler house that called for mitigating the loss of the historic building with the creation of a park and restoration of 9,400 square feet (about 300 linear feet) of the old canal.

"We're just trying to get what was laid out in the agreement," said John Hine, chairman of South Hadley's Selectboard.

Town Planner Richard Harris said the company recently proposed restoring a five foot section of the 1795 canal. "That's insulting," said Harris. "The canal is on the National Historic Register and a portion of it should be restored," he said.

The Selectboard has sought to place the issue in the hands of the Army Corps with a second letter, basically asking if the corps to decide what historic mitigation should be undertaken by HG&E if it demolishes the Texon building. The town would abide by the Corps' decision, according to the letter, but HG&E is not willing to make that commitment.

Lavelle said HG&E would be willing to discuss any ruling by the Corps, but would wait to make a commitment until a decision is reached. "We have a fiduciary responsibility to our ratepayers," said Lavelle.
HG&E, if it removes the Texon building at a cost of $700,000, will have spent about $2 million on the riverfront area, including building two parks for which contracts have been signed and work is to begin in the spring. "That building is an eyesore and an impediment to redeveloping the Falls area," Lavelle said. "We think the demolition of the building is mitigation enough," he said.

Town officials say HG&E should simply live up to its prior agreements.
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"Learning from A Tragedy" - Click HERE

Posts about the January suicide of a South Hadley teenager are at http://bobjudgeselectboard.blogspot.com/search/label/Learning%20from%20a%20Tragedy

Comments from Suzanne Cordes of South Hadley

From: Suzanne Cordes
Sent: Sunday, February 14, 2010 2:20 PM
To: Robert Judge

Hi Bob,

...


I just want to say too that...it is important to talk about what IS going on with the process and to encourage people to look at solutions rather than perpetuate bullying behaviors.  It's ironic that those who want the girls "outed" are more focused on doing that than finding a solution.


I'm all for building community and communication rather than remaining status quo which I'm sure people would like to do in South Hadley.  Let time heal and all will be forgotten.  I hope not.  I hope South Hadley adopts a NO TOLERANCE for bullying and a consequence if someone does not adhere to policy.  In addition, workshops, classes, speakers, building bridges, learning tolerance are all important to creating a safe atmosphere and a voice for our children.

"Punching Holes in the Darkness" - Click HERE

Posted by Bob Judge

February 12, 2010, 10:12PM

I attended this fine event tonight at the church. It was a relief to find clergy from several denominations there, as well as mental health professionals willing to be of assistance to any of those who wanted to talk.

Public officials must take a large role in solving the problems in our schools, and a couple of steps have already been taken. But we will need many others from all parts of the community, including the clergy, if we are to be successful in that effort. Tonight was a good start toward that end.

Exchange with a South Hadley resident

Below are excerpts from an email exchange I had with a South Hadley resident:

---------------------------------------------------------------------

(RESIDENT):

I understand your public position as an elected official.

…But I am afraid youth commissions are a bit too little too late…  I think proposed commissions may be a useful tool later on...but…you first have to rid the system of…problems…year after year…so ineffective…I am not sure that even our school committee is able to objectively evaluate the situation…  l would think what we need is an independent outside commission, perhaps appointed by the courts and the State Education Department, with no horse in the race, to begin to find a solution.  While I am always suspect of mob or scapegoat mentalities, having listened to these officials two weeks ago for the entire length of that meeting, I think any objective, independent voter would want…so that the next vulnerable student can have some substantial hope that things might change... 

---

From: BobJudge [mailto:BobJudge@comcast.net]
Sent: Friday, February 12, 2010 2:27 PM
To:
Subject: RE: Our school superintendent and our high school principal

Dear…:

As I am sure you know, because of our form of government, the Selectboard has no authority over the South Hadley schools.  Just as the voters elect a Selectboard, the voters elect a School Committee.  The School Committee would hire or fire a Superintendent. 

…your comments…I recommend that you direct them to the Chairman of the School Committee…

At the risk of changing the subject somewhat, however, please let me suggest that you look at the story from the February 18 Gazette, at http://bobjudgeselectboard.blogspot.com/2010/02/youth-commission-proposed-for-south.html.  I would be interested in your thoughts about a "Youth Commission," or any other aspect of our attempts to respond constructively to this tragedy.

Thanks for your message.

- Bob Judge

From: …

Sent: Friday, February 12, 2010 1:54 PM
To: Bob Judge
Subject: Our school superintendent and our high school principal

(RESIDENT):

…She was corrected quite wisely by the expert from Colorado who insisted quite wisely that it is NEVER a matter of “she” said or of conflict, that 99.99% students do not lie about being bullied.  I spent ten years of my life teaching…counseling and living with students as a resident tutor at… to know that students rarely lie on matters like this (and the very few who do are transparent to any one with a bit of insight).  To have listened to parent after parent, student after student, recount the REPUTATION of the South Hadley schools for bullying is a tragic revelation to those of us who…Most of us naively assumed that our absurd real estate tax rate and evaluation system went towards supporting a first rate school system: only to hear that parents preferred to keep their kids in Holyoke, Chicopee, Westfield, or to send them to private or parochial schools, all to AVOID our school system. 

…we should stop worrying about depriving these criminal bullies of their rights.  This tragedy has gone far enough and demands immediate action on the part of our elected officials.

"South Hadley taking steps toward progress" - Click HERE

Bob Judge (BobJudge@comcast.net) has sent you an item from http://www.wggb.com/.

"South Hadley taking steps toward progress"

South Hadley taking steps toward progress

SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. (WGGB) – South Hadley is getting a helping hand as it tries to battle back against the bullies.
http://www.wggb.com/global/story.asp?s=11974568

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Copyright 2010 WGGB

South Hadley taking steps toward progress

Posted: Feb 11, 2010 10:48 PM

Video Gallery <1> South Hadley Battling Bullying with State's Help 1:27

Members of the South Hadley School Committee address residents during their meeting Thursday.

By Elizabeth Corridan
SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. (WGGB) – South Hadley is getting a helping hand as it tries to battle back against the bullies.


The state Department of Public Health sent a team of suicide prevention and mental health counselors to the embattled town's school committee meeting.  Larry Berkowitz from the Riverside Trauma Center told committee members and residents in attendance.
"We don't consider ourselves experts, we feel like we've got experience. We've helped communities go on a journey they don't want to go on," said Berkowitz.


Berkowitz pledged to partner with the community to help identify resources and strategies to help the town heal and prevent another tragedy.  His offer was welcomed by parents ready for change and action.


"It's really stressful to worry about the safety of your child," said Kelley St. Clair.


Before Thursday night's school committee meeting, St. Clair led a meeting of the Special Education Parents' Advisory Council.  It was a chance for parents to brainstorm ideas in hopes of creating a safer, healthier learning environment for their children.


"There is a time and a place to express frustrations and tonight we just wanted to focus on solutions," said St. Clair.


The first meeting of the South Hadley's Bullying Task Force is Feb. 23.