Mother alleges her son was repeatedly assaulted by an older student on the school bus, sues Palmer, bus company

The mother of a former second-grader at Old Mill Pond Elementary School in Palmer is suing the city as well as the company that runs Palmer’s school buses, where she alleges he was beaten day after day by an older student. 

The complaint, filed last week in Hampden Superior Court by the boy’s mother, Susan Fitzgerald, describes harrowing school bus conditions: 72 students packed onto a bus meant for a maximum of 25, often forcing three children to share one seat. 

Starting on Sept. 24, 2021, her son allegedly started coming home with “large bruised lumps on the right side of his forehead, large bruises on his body, and small round bruises on his cheeks,” complaining of headaches “nearly on a daily basis,” as well as pain in his hands and wrists. 

“The minor continued to consistently complain of headaches and fatigue, stating he ‘doesn’t feel good’ when it was time to go to school and when returned home from school,” the complaint says. 

The boy reported specific incidents to Laura Coulombe, a paraprofessional on the bus, but no school official contacted his family about the reports. He described similar incidents to his mother. 

“Another male student, who was older, often placed one hand on the back of the minor’s neck, the other hand over the minor’s mouth, and slammed his head into the bus window,” the complaint reads. “Minor described that the perpetrator would not allow him to speak, or yell for help, and that he had a difficult time breathing during these incidents.” 

The boy reported that he was assaulted nearly every day by the same perpetrator, who was at least two years older than him. 

The lawsuit, filed by Belchertown attorney Carrie B. White, targets the City of Palmer as well as J. P. McCarthy & Sons, the company that runs the buses. It notes that these alleged incidents occurred in front of dozens of other students, as well as adult staff members of the school, and although the boy’s mother went to school officials, she received little help. 

After repeatedly contacting Old Mill Pond, Fitzgerald was granted a meeting with the principal and the transportation director for Palmer Public Schools on Nov. 23, 2021. The transportation director did not attend, but the principal promised to request security footage from the bus company, according to the lawsuit.

On Dec. 2, 2021, Fitzgerald called the bus company and was told the footage had never been requested. 

On Feb. 28, 2022, the boy was taken out of class by the school guidance counselor and asked if he was being hurt at home, the injuries were so apparent.

Fitzgerald was then reportedly served with a No Trespass Order signed by Palmer Public School Superintendent Patricia Gardner, without notice for the reason behind the restriction or the opportunity to challenge it. She had been advised by the school to drop off and pick up her son as a solution to the alleged bus abuse, but once she was no longer allowed on school grounds, the boy had to miss school when she couldn’t find other transportation for him. When his father took him to and from school, he had to miss work, which was financially harmful to the family.

The complaint says she contacted several agencies — the Palmer Police Department, the Palmer town manager, Palmer School Committee members as well as its head chair, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, and the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families — but received no help. Her son has suffered from depression, anxiety, and PTSD, in addition to his physical injuries, due to the events of the 2021-22 school year and has had to engage in mental health counseling as a result. 

She is suing for “bills, medical bills, lost wages, anxiety, depression, acute PTSD, head injuries, including contusions and swelling,” according to the complaint. 

“The Plaintiff alleges that the school and bus personnel from J. P. McCarthy and Sons, LLC knowingly destroyed evidence, intimated the child to not disclose, told his mother to not report the incidents, and intentionally ignored mother’s complaints,” it says. “The Town of Palmer tried to silence the Plaintiff from fighting for her and her son’s rights by placing No Trespass Order on her so that she could not be present at the school.” 

The defendants have yet to respond.

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