By Linda Stinnett

A parent of a Derby Middle School student reported a bullying case to both the school and local police this past week.

School officials declined to provide specific information in this case because it does involve student confidentiality. Heather Bohaty, assistant superintendent - human resources, said school policies for handling such reports were followed on the same day as the report was made.

“This is something we do as a district take very seriously,” Bohaty said. “Derby Middle School behavioral and discipline policy was followed.”

Derby Police Chief Robert Lee would not confirm a case based on the name of the victim, also due to juvenile confidentiality in police reports, but said an incident has been reported by a parent.

“It is being followed up on by the SRO at the middle school,” he said.

That case will be investigated and if criminal activity is found to be involved it will be presented to the district attorney’s office for potential charges, he said.

The parent said this week that on Friday, Feb. 10, her son came home from school with bruises on his back, hip and arm. He did not want to talk about the incident to his mother, but when pressed told her he had been beaten up in a restroom at school. 

School officials said it is being considered a single incident. The mother of the victim said she believes the problem has been ongoing. At some point another student even recorded the beating on a cell phone camera, she said.

“That’s not a game,” the mother said. “It needs to stop.”

Bohaty said administrators have communicated with staff about the problem and they will be more closely watching to try to keep the problem from recurring or escalating.

In this case, the victim is a quiet person and did not want others at school to think he could not handle the situation. He did not talk to anyone else about the incident.

“He did not want to show he was scared. He did not want to have to change classes,” the mother said. “Actually, he’s really tough.”

Derby Public Schools’ district handbook, the DMS Handbook and each school has information on bullying. That includes detailed definitions, which have been broadened in recent years to including electronic actions.

Bullying is an intentional written, verbal, electronic or physical act or threat, according to the DMS Handbook. It also creates an intimidating, threatening or abusive educational environment for a student or a staff member which a reasonable person knows the effect of, the book says.

Staff has had training in bully prevention and student programs also are in place. Bohaty said those programs tell students to report any form of bullying behavior to an adult, both at home and at school.

“We need to know about it to help handle that type of situation,” she said. “We always want to ensure that our students are safe and in a safe environment ... Any type of behavior which is physical in nature will not be tolerated at DMS or any other school.”

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