Torey J. Sabatini Receiving More Supervisory Attention

Madison Public Schools are beefing up supervision of students at lunch and recess at one district elementary school in light of comments made at the Board of Education's most recent meeting.

Madison Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Richard Noonan sent a letter in e-mails Wednesday to all district parents and posted it to the district's Web site regarding the changes.

The letter came in response to discussion raised during the public comments portion of the March 9 Board of Education meeting when a number of parents detailed incidents where their children had experienced bullying and harassment at Torey J. Sabatini Elementary School.

In the letter, Noonan told parents, "The commitment of the Madison School District is to not tolerate in any shape or form bullying, harassment or intimidation of any student in our charge. The school board has a comprehensive policy to this effect, and that has been regularly communicated to staff and students alike. Reported incidents of bullying are investigated in full.  Disciplinary consequences, as well as interventions by mental health professionals, are instituted where warranted."

The letter went on to detail some of the steps the district would be taking to help prevent any incidents from occurring, especially at Torey J. Sabatini.

At the BOE meeting, three parents and one crossing guard expressed concern over supervision at the school both in the building, especially at lunch time and in the restrooms, as well as out on the playground. The bullying detailed by the parents ranged from verbal to physical abuse, with one parent uttering the obscenities she said were being used to abuse her child.

Two parents said the incidents stretched from September, but that their children did not come to them until recently for fear of further abuse from students.

Noonan, both at the meeting and in a separate interview, said that the incidents were just recently reported to the administration and steps have immediately been taken to investigate and help prevent additional ones form happening.

"A lot of parents are frustrated they have occurred at other times, but those are other things not drawn to attention of the school administration," Noonan said. "I want to make sure we have complete supervisory so we can be aware of if it's transpiring"

The steps being implemented at Torey J. Sabatini in light of the shared experiences were detailed in Noonan's letter to parents, and are as follows

• Principal Michael Post will immediately institute expanded and more vigorous supervision of students in the lunch room, during recess, and at dismissal time.
• Assistant Superintendent Barbara Sargent will be assigned to Torey J. Sabatini to work with Post to investigate any currently reported incidents of bullying and determine what consequences or interventions are necessary. Sargent will remain at the school to provide overall assistance to Post in effectively implementing all steps taken to address bullying issues.
• The School Resource Officer provided by the Madison Police Department will speak to classes and assist the school in instituting improved supervision at lunch, recess, and dismissal times.
• Post will immediately convene a parent and staff ad hoc committee on bullying that will review and identify additional steps or programs that should be instituted at the school to address concerns relating to bullying and respecting student differences. Post's responsibility will be to effectively carry out those programs that are deemed advisable by the committee.

"I can  understand their frustration; I'm a parent too," Noonan said. "We don't want them to believe they are at risk when in our charge. We have a wonderful group of students. We have some occurrences, though that will be investigated in full, and if disciplinary actions are necessary, they will be imposed. If we feel a student would benefit from counselling or mental health intervention, we will recommend and see it through."