When a 7-year-old boy was abused by his teacher at an IPS school this year, the administration did not inform parents until after a lawsuit created news about the tragedy. Even parents whose students witnessed the acts were not informed ahead of the media breaking the story.
I was a parent at that school during the time this took place. I had noticed many teachers and other staff leaving the school, the quality of education declining, and one of my children had experienced bullying. So, I removed them from the school before the story broke. I didn’t know what was happening, but I knew things were unraveling.
Now, parents are concerned about an IPS middle school that is understaffed and has infrastructure problems. This is the school my son attends. I heard that for a while the PA system was broken and there was no way in any emergency situation to ensure all students and staff would be notified. I’m still unclear if this is fixed. My son tells me that he’s witnessed two fights already this school year and has heard of several others. As a mom, I’ve heard other whisperings about inappropriate behaviors in the bathrooms and locker rooms.
But what really scared me even more than anything else recently was the threat we received on September 13 . It’s every parent’s worst nightmare. I did not know it was my son’s school that was threatened at the time, but I knew I didn’t know enough to feel comfortable sending my children to school. I decided to keep them home because the risk was simply not worth it.
Even the communication I received from the district about the possible situation, which I am thankful was not a valid threat in the end, was confusing. I didn’t realize until after I had already kept my children home that his school was one that was threatened because the first automated message I received stated it was a different school. I understand there were multiple threats at the same time involving different schools. Because there were multiple threats, it was the next day that parents received a message stating they were investigating the social media post students had circulated that was a threat against Broad Ripple. I still don’t understand why students who went to school were not immediately sent home.
Beyond the widespread concerns this year from Broad Ripple Middle School and George Washington Carver 87 parents, there has also been media coverage about Thomas Carr Howe Middle School, including a very hard-to-watch video of one of fight. In that video, it’s mentioned that no one stopped the fight. Not teachers. Not the school police officer. No one.
I could go on and on about how I am worried and the things I have heard and seen, but I just want to say this: the bottom line is that our kids aren’t safe in some of our IPS schools – especially the new large middle schools that were initiated through Rebuilding Stronger. They are scared about bullying, experiencing or witnessing violence and are subject to try to learn in buildings that aren’t updated to keep them safe.
I can’t sit back and do nothing. I hope you won’t either.
I helped to create this petition because I want action taken to protect our babies. We shouldn’t have to fear sending our kids to school. We already have tragedies like the one we saw play out recently in Georgia (among too many other senseless school shootings over the years) to fear. We don’t need additional concerns that should be handled to make us want to cry when we hug our children before waving goodbye and watching them walk into school with nothing but their backpacks and our prayers.
Please sign this petition and join parents who are scared, worried and want more to be done to protect our students. Help us ask district leaders to make positive changes that protect our children. Help us ask for not only answers, but solutions.
