N-word, C-word, F-word, Oh My!

So I guess if a staff member overhears a black student using the N-word to a white student, that's okay.

Or if ARHS teenagers decide to do "The Vagina Monologues" again next year, then the C-word will be okay.

Or if student calls another friend, who is not gay,  a "fag" in an endearing sort of way, then that's okay.

Let the witch hunt begin.

"Consistent With The Definition"

Amherst School Superintendent Maria Geryk, Thursday morning

So the long awaited official report from the Amherst Schools on the incident that closed the High School last month because of a "threat" posted to Facebook was just released, on a blog of all places.

Interestingly the report does admit "there were separate behaviors during the series of events that are consistent with the definition of both bullying and racial harassment."

And since it was the white student's family who complained repeatedly to school authorities about three black students bullying their son, it seems fair to say their charges have been confirmed.

No word on whether the father of the white student, who works in the schools, and was suspended for three days without pay for trying to stop the bullying, will be reimbursed for those days and the stain on his employment record removed.

And no mention of any discipline for school officials who failed to act on the white parents plea to help their son.

In Their Own Words

Amherst School Committee 2/25: Nothing to say on this sorry incident

A month after a racial/bullying incident escalated out of control leading to the closing of Amherst Regional High School originally ascribed to "unforeseen circumstance", ARPS School Superintendent Maria Geryk will issue a "conclusive statement to the community on Friday".  

Let's hope it is as transparent as it is fair.

Mother/son's letter to Faye Brady, ARPS Director of Student Services 2/3/14

   Mother:Son Letter Bullying

Tweets from black youth threatening white student: 

 "Extendooo" could refer to high capacity ammunition clip commonly used with assault rifles or a police baton

 

Even now 2 of the black youths still use "the word"

Amherst School Superintendent Maria Geryk

A Mother Laments

ARHS: Our All American High School

In a letter to Faye Brady, Director of Student Services at ARPS, dated Febuary 3rd, exactly one week after Amherst Regional High School was closed because of a Facebook "threat", the mother of the white student accused of using a racial slur corroborates everything her husband outlined in his 4 page letter used to defend himself against job termination for trying to get the schools to stop three black youths from bullying his son.

After the Wednesday, January 22nd impromptu meeting where the father first informed Mary Custard of the bullying his son was enduring, the mother also spoke with Ms. Custard later that afternoon.  She wanted to know why the parents of the three black students had been contacted the day before but not her family?  Ms. Custard did not give her an answer.

She closed the conversation with, "My son is afraid to go to school and this is not acceptable -- as the School should be a safe place to be."

On Friday, January 24 after three confrontations in the High School the mother met in person with Ms. Custard where the joint meeting with all the parents was concieved and scheduled for Monday, January 27.  That meeting was cancelled due to the sudden closing of the school.

The mother continues, "I again told her (Ms. Custard) that my son was afraid to go to school and did not feel safe, and I felt that not enough had been done in regards to the situation."

In her poignent closing the mother directly addresses her son being branded a racist for using the "N-word" (five letter version ending in a), to congratulate a black friend (who took no offense).

"What started out as an argument between teenagers, all of whom use 'the word', somehow turned into a 'racially motivated' hate crime."

She emphatically continues:  "This is NOT true as the original statement that my son made was NOT racial, but a pat on the back.  My son is NOT a racist as he has been portrayed.  Having been brought up in Holyoke he was brought up NOT seeing color.  He has many friends of all different colors -- black, Puerto Rican, Indian, Pakistani, Moldovan as well as white.

We have many races within our own family.  The accusation that my son is a racist is the most hurtful thing that has come out of this entire incident. "

Her final sentence says it all:  "It was not handled expediently and was allowed to go on for four days -- far too long.  Only then (after the Facebook "threat" discovered)  was anything done -- obviously too little too late."

The letter was signed by the mother, father and son.

In His Own Words

 ARHS currently closed.  What happens on Monday?

So for those of you just joining me on this sad -- but all too typical -- Amherst story of hypocrisy, this is the four-page response penned by the father of the white student who posted a "threat" on a Facebook confessions site hoping it would bring relief from the relentless bullying by three black students who did not like his use of the "N-word", the (supposedly) hip 5-letter version ending in "a".

As the narrative clearly shows numerous school employees either witnessed the physical altercation that occurred at the end of the week or were made aware of the situation by the father prior to the physical confrontation.

The schools punished both the father and son via suspensions but thus far none of the bullies have received a suspension. 

The schools also violated the state anti-bullying law (enacted in the aftermath of Phoebe Prince being bullied to death) by not contacting the Amherst Police Department after the father first voiced his concerns.

   Parent Response to Schools

Racism (?), Bullying & Secrecy @ ARHS

Amherst Regional High School on a cold Monday

The following documents were, technically, not public documents since they involve employee performance.  But the privacy exemption in Public Documents law was enacted to protect the employee -- not the governmental institution.

   ARHS Suspends Dad by larry_kelley_1

In his four page response to the written charges used at the "hearing" 2/4/14 the school employee (who works with his hands) took issue with a number of key points.  First and foremost he did not use the N-word, the one that ends in "r" and has six letters.

He used the 5 letter version that ends in "a", just to illustrate the version of the word his son used with a black friend as a term of endearment. 

And -- even more important -- he asked permission before using the word within earshot of Dean of Students Mary Custard, "an African American woman".  

School officials, however, seems to have no trouble using both versions of the N-word in their 2 page indictment.

The father, who I will call George (but that is not his name) reports his son did use the term "fucking bullshit" because by that point, after a week of bullying, he was extremely frustrated by the lack of response school officials had brought to bear.

To recap:  George went to Dean of Students Mary Custard on Wednesday January 22 after his son had a "confrontation" with three black students the previous day.

Being a polite ex-Marine George did not just barge into the office and grab a seat. He asked Ms. Custard's secretary if it was okay to speak to her and after she checked with Ms. Custard the answer was "yes". 

He remained standing the whole time because Ms. Custard never invited him to sit down.

That day was the only time the N-word (short version) was ever mentioned.  George was justifiably disconcerted when he learned Ms. Custard had contacted all the other parents (one of whom works in the schools, but not so much with his hands) to get their side of the story.

That same day during an "evacuation" George (who is after all a school employee) did end up in the Middle School auditorium where he spotted his son, who was now hanging out with the same black friend he posted the congratulatory note to on Facebook using the short version of the N-word.

His son did point out the three kids who were bullying him, but at no time did George make an attempt to interact with them.

On Thursday January 23 George once again very briefly discussed his son's precarious situation with Ms. Custard and once again asked the secretary who asked Ms. Custard if it was okay for him to speak with her.

At no point was he told to "make an appointment."

Friday January 24 was the day the verbal abuse escalated to the physical.  One of the kids laid a hand on George's son.  Again he went back to see Ms. Custard, again he asked her secretary first for the okay.  Only this time he brought his union rep as a witness.

And that witness will verify that George did not point his finger at Ms. Custard or act in a threatening or discourteous manner.  Yes, while leaving her office his irate son did say "fucking bullshit," but George did reprimand him, telling him to "calm down" and "watch your language."

George, his son and union rep then went to Principal Mark Jackson's office but ended up talking with Assistant Principal Michael Thompson who promised to set up a meeting for Monday January 27 (the day the school closed because of the "threat" posted to Facebook Confessions site).

George never said Ms. Custard was "biased" but his son certainly thought that was the case.  Mr. Thompson told George's son to go to an early lunch and if there are further problems with the three belligerent students he should seek out an authority figure.

Well that did not work, as the pre-lunchtime encounter was the worst yet.

The kid who got physical with George's son stormed out of the school that morning.  George's son went from the High School to the Middle School and then drove over to Northampton to pick up his mother from her place of employment.

The mother returned to the High School and was seen by Ms. Custard (amazingly, without an appointment).

In fact it was the mother who suggested the three kids antagonizing her son and school officials all sit down together on Monday January 27 to try to make peace.

That of course never happened because the "threat" posted to Facebook the week before finally appeared on Saturday night, January 25 and was spotted by School Superintendent Maria Geryk the following night.

She called the Chief of Police and Amherst Town Manger and with the help of I.T. Director Kris Pacunas George's son was identified around 3:00 AM, Monday morning.

In a panic Amherst Regional High School was closed, and state and federal authorities swept the school building for bombs and/or guns, neither of which were found.  Police now agree George's guns were never out of his elaborate lock up and so were never smuggled into the school.

George's son received a 12 day suspension for the Facebook "threat," use of the "N-word"  and making a scene in the school hallways.   But George managed to keep his job, although he was suspended without pay for three days for those three visits to Ms. Custard, totaling less than 15 minutes.

And he now has a a blemish in his personnel file, which had been spotless.

The Schools never reported the bullying incidents to the police, and the three students who directed their ire at George's son received no suspensions.

Perhaps it's time for the Regional School Committee to provide additional oversight on this sorry affair. 

Racism By Any Other Name

ARHS closed January 27 due to "unforeseen circumstances"

Are the Amherst Regional Public Schools guilty of a coverup in the Facebook Confessions threat incident that closed the High School on January 27?

At the Community Meeting held later that night to (sort of) explain the "unforeseen circumstances" that suddenly shut down the school, why did school officials not mention the racial component and bullying that led to the fear fueled "threat" being posted on Facebook out of self defense?

And exactly how did the mother (Jamie Sadiq) who blew the whistle on the racial backstory (but not the bullying) leading up to the Facebook incident know the white student involved?  Police and School officials had only learned his name at 3:30 AM that very morning and were refusing to divulge it to the media.  

And why didn't the schools contact the Amherst Police Department after a white father first complained to Dean of Students Mary Custard about the bullying his son was receiving, which later escalated to (criminal) assault by one of the students, who is black?

Why was the white youth suspended for 12 days and his father who works for the schools suspended without pay for 3 days, while the three black youths who bullied him -- including the one who laid hands on him -- received no suspensions?

As part of "Warrior Week" at ARHS, the schools published and promoted two compelling incidents of racial bigotry aimed at a new teacher of color that occurred last October.  But why are we only now hearing this sad story?

Those back-to-back incidents clearly crossed the line into criminal activity via Civil Rights infractions.  Again, why was the Amherst Police Department not immediately notified last October?

Anyone see a pattern here?

Anyone remember 12 years ago when Superintendent Gus Sayer failed to file a 51A report when a mother complained her 15-year-old son was propositioned by the new Principal (Steven Myers) who turned out to have a pedophile background?

And yes that's the same Gus Sayer who retired from Amherst within a year of that ignoble incident, but then came out of retirement to become Superintendent of South Hadley High School where he failed to protect Phoebe Prince from bullying -- and dying.  

In response to that tragic incident the state passed an anti-bullying law requiring all schools to report incidents exactly like the ones that have occurred at ARHS since October.

Amherst needs to start prioritizing the health and welfare of all students (whatever race, creed or color) over their public image.

Amherst Regional High School kids stomp out racism/sexism/homophobia last year.  Well, almost

"A Precipitating Event"

A black mother addresses racial issues with all-white panel of Amherst town officials

If you're Irish you can crack jokes about alcohol; if you're a young supposedly hip black youth you can use the N-word among other young supposedly hip black youth.  Sort of.

But over the past few years -- because of the pervasiveness of hip hop music -- a kind of cultural homogenization has occurred where white youth (or in Madonna's case, older white women) have adopted a variation of the N-word (5 letters rather than 6, ending in "a" rather than "er") as a term of endearment.

However, when you transmit either N-word over social media where anybody can see it, you're asking for trouble.  BIG trouble.

This sad story starts ironically enough over Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend, after a white youth (I'm going to call him "Justin" but that is not his name) posted a note of congratulations to his close friend, who is black, using the shorter (supposedly hip) version of the N-word.

Other black youth took offense and aggressively let Justin know it.

The original "threat" on the Facebook confessions page was actually submitted that weekend (January 18) but did not see the light of bandwidth until Saturday, January 25 a week later (the confessions page is moderated and a bevy of saved up "confessions" are published simultaneously) and was quickly spotted by School Superintendent Maria Geryk Sunday evening, January 26.

Obviously Justin was trying to send up a warning flare about being bullied.  And the events of the previous week, days after he first tried to post his "confession," demonstrate why:

On Tuesday, January 21 Justin had an altercation with a black youth upset about his Facebook congratulatory post to his friend (who is black).  It was heated enough for Justin's father, who works in the schools, to stop in the next day (Wednesday January 22) and consult with Dean of Students, Mary Custard.

She of course had problems with either version of the N-word.  The father agreed to tell Justin to stop using it (and had in fact done so in the past), even as a term of endearment.  At the meeting Ms. Custard informed the father she had been in contact with the parents of the black youth (his father also works for the schools) involved in the Tuesday confrontation.

Now Justin's father  became "dismayed" that he was not initially consulted for this official attempt at fact finding.  Even though they live in a surrounding city, the schools would certainly have his contact information and he does, after all, work in the building.

And he let Ms. Custard know, "The situation needs to be quelled before it gets out of hand."  On the morning of Friday, January 24th it did get out of hand, as one of the black youths escalated from verbal abuse to getting physical with Justin. 

The father again paid a call on Ms. Custard, but then tried to go over her head to Principal Mark Jackson, who was not in his office.  So he consulted with Vice Principal Michael Thompson, who promised to set up a meeting on Monday between the warring students, Ms. Custard and Principal Jackson.

In the meantime Vice Principal Thompson told Justin to go to lunch and if any problems with the other combative kids should arise, to seek out the nearest adult to act as referee/cop.

After lunch the problem happened yet again.  Justin, angry and hurt, called his father to tell him of the altercation and reported he was signing himself out of school.  The meeting scheduled for Monday never happened because the school suddenly closed due to Justin's Facebook "threat" discovered on Sunday night.

Through the snooping skills of Information Technology guru Kris Pacunas town officials and police discovered Justin was the perpetrator of the Facebook "threat" somewhere between 3:00 and 3:30 early Monday morning.

A few hours later Justin's father received a call from Amherst Police to come in for an interview, where he described how well his guns were stored.  As an ex-marine the father is well versed on the proper handling and respect shown for firearms, starting-and-ending with security.

Around 9:00 a.m. Monday morning local city police showed up and the father willingly turned over all the guns, even though they were legally owned and legally stored.  Police have determined Justin never actually carried a firearm into the schools.

The Mass State PD  bomb squad screamed through Amherst town center around 11:30 a.m. Monday morning heading to the High School to do a complete sweep for guns and bombs, although bombs were never mentioned in the Facebook "threat."

At the "community meeting" on Monday night (Justin and his family did not attend) school officials focused on the Facebook post as the "precipitating event".  A concerned audience member begged to differ, although she portrayed Justin as pretty much a KKK member.

School officials first informed parents and guardians only an hour or so before school normally starts  Monday morning (January 27) that ARHS was closed due to "unforeseen circumstances."

Perhaps if administrators opened their eyes a week earlier, those circumstances would be far from unforeseen.  After all, the first step is to recognize you have a problem.

The Republican reports (front page no less)

"Unforeseen Circumstances"

ARHS

UPDATE 2:00 PM

According to a source close to the investigation police ascertained the identity of the Anon poster with the vaguely threatening Facebook "confession" around 3:30 this morning.

A State Police bomb squad vehicle screamed through Amherst town center around 11:30 this morning heading North.

Most recent school statement

 Original Post 8:00 AM

Amherst Regional High School is closed today due to "unforeseen circumstance." 

Back before that darn Internet if you wanted to cause chaos at your local school you picked up the phone (or better yet used a pay phone) to call in a bomb threat.

Nowadays it's even easier.  Although this Facebook posting is a tad less direct.    School officials have confirmed they were made aware of the "threat" over the weekend but the robo call to parents on Monday morning gave no indication of why the sudden closure, leading to rampant speculation.

Amherst School Committee Vice Chair Rick Hood also confirmed this morning that the Amherst School Committee was not giving a heads up prior to closing down the school.

The number appearing to the left of the post is simply the ongoing count of Anon posts published on the site.  Interestingly if someone responds with a comment they are not anonymous.