BPS widens investigation at Mission Hill School; outside law firm brought in

Correction: This communicative initially said 2 further teachers had been placed connected leave, making a full of four. In face, Cassellius was referring to the 2 teachers placed connected permission past month; nary further teachers person yet been enactment connected leave.

BPS has hired an extracurricular instrumentality steadfast for a "top-to-bottom investigation" of the schoolhouse and the mode its students are treated, School Superintendent Brenda Cassellius told parents successful a caller letter.

In February, 2021, I archetypal learned of alarming concerns from a acceptable of Mission Hill K-8 parents. These allegations included a superior ailment that their kid experienced persistent bullying and harassment that resulted successful intelligence and carnal harm. The parents further alleged that they consistently reported the persistent bullying to educators and schoolhouse leaders and that those complaints went unaddressed.

I commissioned an probe into this incidental and learned done this probe astir a bid of different complaints, colony agreements, and past investigations astir the school, nether erstwhile administrations, including immoderate that person been reported astir successful the media.  Once we announced the determination to spot these educators connected leave, much parents came forward. We received a fig of caller genitor complaints which are accordant with complaints already deemed credible and these, too, request to beryllium reviewed. We person placed 2 further educators connected permission based connected the seriousness of aggregate complaints.

In fact, astatine slightest immoderate BPS administrators were alert of problems astatine the schoolhouse years earlier this past February. In 2017, 2 sets of parents sued BPS implicit the mode the schoolhouse failed to support their children from bullying and repeated intersexual aggression by 1 young student. BPS agreed to wage the parents, positive 2 different families $650,000 successful August of this twelvemonth to settee the case.

The much caller case, which progressive consecutive bullying became public astir the aforesaid clip arsenic BPS was reaching a colony successful the earlier case. In summation to the 2 teachers, the school's 2 co-leaders were placed connected permission astatine the commencement of the existent schoolhouse year.

Cassellius writes:

I person secured the services of the instrumentality steadfast Hinckley Allen to bash a top-to-bottom probe into the further complaints, management, and practices astatine Mission Hill Pilot School. That probe has present started and I expect it volition proceed into the winter, though we’ve asked them to beryllium thorough and deliberate and not to compromise prime for speed.

In addition, I person commissioned an Emergency School Review for the Mission Hill school. The Emergency School Review volition beryllium a much focused and quickened mentation of a accepted School Quality Review (SQR).

She adds she has assigned a fig of 2 BPS specialists to the schoolhouse instantly and is reviewing each of the idiosyncratic plans acceptable up for special-needs students astatine the school.

However, Linda Nathan, who helped recovered the schoolhouse arsenic a semi-autonomous aviator schoolhouse nether past Superintendent Thomas Payzant, writes the schoolhouse needs replacements for the 4 suspended teachers and that it besides needs to support its innovative teaching model, successful which adjacent students person a accidental successful program and teachers collaboratively acceptable moving conditions:

Parents are urging the territory to grant Mission Hill’s autonomies and prosecute due unit truthful that the schoolhouse tin stay viable and our students’ needs tin beryllium met. The territory has chosen to region autonomies and not regenerate unit who were enactment connected permission utilizing events nether probe arsenic an excuse to further weaken our school.

It is wholly imaginable that BPS has utilized an incidental to destruct the Mission Hill that the founders had successful mind.

The schoolhouse whitethorn present beryllium seen arsenic a menace to the district’s presumption of however overmuch independency a azygous schoolhouse should have.