Amid allegations of mismanaged bullying, controversy envelops Mission Hill School

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Superintendent Brenda Cassellius’ latest decisions have caused a maelstrom in the democratically run small school in Jamaica Plain, founded on progressive ideals. While some parents feel that the exam is overdue in an institution they feel is too laissez-faire, other parents defend the teachers and say the district is overreacting and destabilizing the pilot school, which is operating from the outset. somewhat independent of the district since 1997.

Cassellius, for her part, said she put the school’s two “co-lead teachers”, or co-principals, on paid administrative leave in August after a district investigation found credible evidence that the school had not taken appropriate action after two parents reported that their child had been the victim of persistent bullying, resulting in mental and physical damage, between 2014 and 2019. These incidents were separate from those included in the settlement.

The announcement led more parents to bring forward separate serious allegations “in line with complaints already deemed credible,” Cassellius said, leading him to place two more teachers on paid leave in early September. She recently hired the Hinckley Allen law firm to conduct a “top-down” investigation and a substitute principal, Valeria Lowe. She said the district provided staff and training on bullying and discipline at the school while substitute teachers were found.

“Once the findings of the months-long investigation were communicated to me, I felt there was a need for swift action to foster a safe and respectful teaching and learning environment,” said Cassellius told the Boston school board on September 22.

Cassellius’ actions have drawn both praise and criticism.

Her decision to investigate is “excellent,” said in Spanish Ileana Montalvo, a mother who said the school had mismanaged the sexual abuse, death threats and physical fights her children had suffered at the hands of other students.

“It was a time bomb, this school,” Montalvo added. “Really, they have to do something so that more children don’t see these terrible things happening to themselves.”

Controversy and allegations of mismanagement have surrounded Mission Hill School Jamaica Plain. David L. Ryan / Globe Staff

But for some parents, the measures have been needlessly harsh, removing beloved teachers who were qualified to teach diverse and inclusive classes with many students with disabilities at a critical time of the pandemic. They note that the school’s co-principals, Williams and McLaughlin, had only been in charge of the school since the fall of 2019, after numerous such incidents reportedly occurred. Online petition signed by 300 people urges the district to “Stop Dismantling Mission Hill School.” He notes that three of the four removed educators are black, leaving the school without a colored head teacher beyond kindergarten.

“Thanks to the actions of the Superintendent in suspending qualified and qualified teachers without any plan to compensate for their loss, our school is in crisis,” Andrew Iliff, a father from Mission Hill, told the Boston school committee on October 6.

Many parents chose Mission Hill, a small school of 228 students, for its approach to education through project-based learning, inclusion of students with disabilities, and democratic decision-making by families and teachers. As a “pilot” school, Mission Hill had more freedom over its curriculum – the whole school explored one subject for months at a time, such as the ancient Taino civilization, earth sciences or the African American experience, incorporating the theme into various subject lessons. But in 2019-2020, the district placed Mission Hill on “transformation” status due to poor test scores and imposed the standard BPS curriculum, in line with an agreement BPS made with the state to improve schools little. efficient.

Now some parents view Cassellius’ actions with suspicion, as they think the district wants more control of the school.

Avery Saulnier de Reyes, a Mission Hill mother and former BPS teacher, told the school committee that the district was unfairly targeting Mission Hill to undermine it.

“As a BPS teacher for 11 years, I worked in schools where it was not uncommon to find students having sex in the hallway, poop on the walls and guns,” said Saulnier de Reyes. “These are serious incidents, but very rarely has the superintendent’s office been involved in any of them.”

The four educators on leave could not be reached for comment. Boston Teachers Union President Jessica Tang said, “We share the concerns of parents, students and educators about the disruption and are here to support everyone affected.”

Few details have surfaced around the moves.

But court records and interviews shed light on the experiences of some students. In August, the city agreed to pay five families $ 650,000 to settle their lawsuit alleging the school had responded poorly to sexual assault of an elementary student – including touching, kissing and digital penetration – comrades, allowing five girls and a boy to be victimized, according to court records.

The parents alleged that the school had taken no protective measures, such as closer supervision of the student, assigning an assistant to the student or expelling the student. BPS did not admit any wrongdoing in the regulations.

The report that prompted Cassellius in August to remove new principals, Williams and McLaughlin, involved a separate set of incidents. The city rejected The Globe’s request for the report, written by Joseph Coffey, a lawyer under contract with BPS, citing an ongoing investigation.

According to Commonwealth Magazine, which obtained the report, Coffey said that a gender non-conforming student suffered 52 incidents of “repetitive and aggressive harassment” at Mission Hill from 2014 to 2019, and that then principal Ayla Gavins, was “indifferent” to the harassment. The student was reportedly pinned to a wall and suffocated, stabbed in the face with a pencil, punched in the head, punched in the nose, kicked and threatened with death, according to the Commonwealth report.

Gavins, who no longer works for BPS, did not respond to a request for comment. But she told Coffey she didn’t remember many of the incidents and claimed the behavior was not “bullying” but “retaliation” from the other students, who were “fed up” with it. by the actions of the gender non-conforming student, according to the report, which also suggested that the gender non-conforming student had difficulty reading social cues.

Several families said they felt the co-leaders had done their best in the face of a difficult situation.

Jayme Washington, a mother of five, said she believed her son had also been bullied, but said the school’s now-fired co-teachers Williams and McLaughlin showed her to her and her son, care and attention that the principal’s office had not given. She said her son needed urgent medical attention following the incident. Afterward, she said, Williams and McLaughlin, who were in charge of campus disciplinary matters, supported her as she sought to protect her son. Meanwhile, his emails to Cassellius, which were provided to The Globe, went unanswered.

“If I didn’t have the co-teachers [leaders] there to help me while [the student] was bullying my son, I don’t know what I would have done because the superintendent never returned any of my phone calls or emails, ”Washington said. “They were so wonderful, so loving, so kind.”

Jayme Washington and her husband, Brian, at their Boston home. Jayme said she believed their son had been severely bullied at Mission Hill School and that the now fired co-school leaders were more supportive than the principal, who did not return his emails . Jessica Rinaldi / Globe Team

A spokesperson for Cassellius said the superintendent’s office had no record of Washington’s correspondence.

Montalvo, a mother of three Mission Hill alumni, said she believed the school had been mismanaged. She transferred her two sons, in grades 6 and 7, to a new school this year after she said that a grade 8 student at Mission Hill tried to fight them and threatened to kill them, prompting her sons to fear go to the park or the store alone. She said she reported the threats, but school officials refused her request to set up a meeting with Grade 8 parents, citing an ongoing investigation.

It wasn’t the first problem the family had with school. Montalvo said one of his sons was sexually assaulted in kindergarten by another student. Despite her complaints, she said, the school kept the student in her son’s classroom.

Montalvo agrees with the district’s inquiries.

“For me it is a problem of lack of discipline and control,” she said.

She kept her sons in school because she loved the community, but ultimately decided to move them to another campus in West Roxbury, where she said they felt a lot safer and received more support. school.

Naomi Martin can be reached at [email protected].

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