Education

Taunton school staff harassed after failing to notify parents of student injury

Taunton police say they are investigating threats against Taunton Public Schools staff members.

Elizabeth Pole Elementary School. Taunton Public Schools

By Susannah Sudborough

1 minute to read

Taunton police are investigating threats and harassment against Taunton Public Schools (TPS) staff in the wake of an incident last week where a student was injured at school and staff failed to alert the student’s parents.

On Oct. 11, a student at Elizabeth Pole Elementary School was injured while playing with a jump rope, Taunton Superintendent John Cabral said in a press release last Friday.

Four second grade students were playing together with the rope, wrapping it around each other and spinning each other by pulling on the rope, and the student’s neck was injured in the process, he said.

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“At this time, there is no evidence to suggest that there was any malicious intent behind this incident,” Cabral wrote.

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Cabral said a school resource officer tried to reach out to the parents of the student to let them know what happened, but somehow, the parents were never notified of the incident. He said this was due to “reporting and communication errors” by school officials.

Cabral apologized to the school community and the student’s parents. He also initiated a third-party, independent investigation into the school’s response and a review of relevant policies.

But that hasn’t quelled anger and distress from parents.

The student’s mother, Lauren Williams, posted on Facebook last week that her daughter claims the students “were trying to be mean” when they wrapped a rope around her neck.

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She also said that when she contacted school officials after her daughter came home with the neck injury, they did not seem to know what was going on and made excuses for not contacting her.

Parents on Facebook have shared Williams’s post widely and expressed support for her plight.

Now, Taunton police say, TPS staff members have received “multiple threatening and harassing phone calls and social media posts” in reaction to the incident.

“Anyone who is found to have made these threats or engaging in any subsequent threatening or harassing behavior toward school staff may face criminal charges,” Taunton police wrote in a news release Thursday.

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