DuPage County Board Chair calls out bullying incident at York High School

Video of what appeared to be the bullying of a special needs student at York High School in Elmhurst drew the attention of the DuPage County Board Tuesday.

During her first meeting as county board chairwoman, Deb Conroy took time to speak out against the incident.

“Inclusivity and equity are very important in the county ... and I firmly believe we need to call out bullies; every elected official has the responsibility to call out bullies,” said Conroy, an Elmhurst Democrat who previously served on the District 205 school board and as a state representative before being elected county board chairwoman.

A video of last Thursday’s incident shows a group of students mocking and shoving another student to the ground. The student, whom district officials identified as a student with a disability, then retreats to a bathroom stall.

Elmhurst Community Unit School District 205 board members will meet tonight for a regularly scheduled board meeting. An online petition started by a York High School student has garnered more than 8,000 signatures. The petition seeks disciplinary measures against the perpetrators of the incident, a safe learning environment and increased education on empathy and bullying.

In a letter to parents, Elmhurst Community Unit School District 205 Superintendent Keisha Campbell said the district is investigating the matter.

“We are deeply disappointed and saddened by the actions of this small group of students,” Campbell wrote. “Bullying, intimidation, harassment diminish a student’s ability to learn and a school’s ability to educate. Such behaviors are not tolerated, and any student who chooses to engage in these behaviors will face the appropriate consequences.”

Campbell added that the district has reviewed the video, conducted interviews and is investigating the moments before and after the events shown in the video. She added that Elmhurst Police Department’s school resource officers were notified of the incident and had been in contact with the parents of the student who was pushed.

According to a news release from the Elmhurst Police Department, officers reviewed two cellphone videos. The footage showed five students, including the student with special needs, “willfully engaging in physical contact while other students observed.”

“The investigation revealed that the student with special needs, who is a member of the wrestling team, engaged in wrestling behavior with four other students, two of which are his teammates on the wrestling team,” the news release states. “In the video recording, a student who is not on the wrestling team appears to have pushed the student with special needs after physical contact was made.”

Elmhurst police said counseling services were offered to the students involved and noted that the parents of the student who was pushed declined a formal police investigation.

A statement from the district noted it received numerous reports about the video from District 205 families and said the response was evidence that “the actions of a few do not represent the entire school.”

“All schools in District 205 are welcoming and support all students,” the statement read. “The health and safety of our students is of the utmost importance.”

Near the end of Tuesday’s county board meeting, Conroy read a letter from a parent about the incident. In the letter, the parent supports students’ plans for a walkout on Friday, but also urged them to consider their actions when they return to class.

“Walking out might make a statement, but what makes a difference is what you do when you walk back in,” Conroy read from the parent’s letter.

Cindy Cronin Cahill, an Elmhurst Republican recently elected to the DuPage County Board, said she had heard from several parents about the incident and video.

“The citizens of Elmhurst are very disturbed by it,” Cronin Cahill said. “We just want to make sure that there are proper disciplinary measures taken.”

She suggested students involved in the bullying should volunteer at the Raymond Graham Association, an agency in Lisle that serves people with disabilities, or another similar group.

https://www.dailyherald.com/news/20221213/dupage-county-board-chair-calls-out-bullying-incident-at-york-high-school