Dupage Policy Journal

School board members with Elmhurst Community Unit School District 205 have refused to comment on the bullying of a student with Down syndrome at York High School. 

The entire board refused an interview request from the DuPage Policy Journal. The reluctance to speak on behalf of board members comes after video was released of a boy with Down syndrome was beaten and ridiculed by other students in a bathroom in York High School. 

The Elmhurst 205 board is comprised of President Kara Caforio, Vice President Christopher Kocinski, Secretary Courtenae Trautmann, Athena Arvanitis, Jim Collins, Beth Hosler and Karen Stuefen.

Elmhurst 205 board members refuse to comment on bullying at York High School

The silence from the school board has not kept parents and community members from speaking out. 

“This is disturbing. As a mom to a young child in Elmhurst I am appalled by this behavior. I hope the district plans on expelling all those involved in the incident,” Elmhurst parent Livabeth Lamm said in response to the video. 

Tracy Hurley, a Naperville resident, did not hold back. 

“This is absolutely disgusting,” she said.

Video from the attack shows another student charged into the victim, who falls back to the ground before getting up and fleeing the scene among the jeers of a group of boys. 

The boy who perpetrated the attack holds his hands near the end of the video and says, “I did not do anything. I did not do anything.”

A change.org petition was also set up by student Mary Olivia Muti to highlight the issue. 

“Hello, students in Elmhurst and Illinois. Yesterday, a student with Down syndrome was violently, physically contacted in a York High School bathroom. Not only was he physically attacked by several students but others watched and laughed. This has occurred numerous of times at our high school and surrounding schools that turn a blind eye to bullying. We the students of York, feel compelled for immediate, radical change for the better with appropriate consequences,” Muti wrote.