Dupage Policy Journal

Elmhurst Community Unit School District 205 school board members released a statement on a recent York High School videotaped incident of bullying.

At the Dec. 13 business meeting, Elmhurst District 205 President Kara Caforio said that the board is "deeply disturbed and heartbroken" by the incident. Actions such as “Bullying or violence of any kind will not be tolerated in Elmhurst District 205 and any student that chooses to engage in these behaviors will face consequences for their actions.” She said the administration "has been working tirelessly to conduct a thorough investigation to ensure a full understanding of all details including the moments before and after what is seen in the video."

"Social media is unfortunately unexpectedly replete with partial facts, conjecture, and sensationalism," Caforio added. “Therefore I would like to take a moment to clarify the events of last week for our community. Please recognize that we must respect the privacy of our students within the bounds of the law and are not able to divulge all the information that you may desire. 

"Early Thursday afternoon the administrative team at York High School received the first report of a possible bullying incident in the bathroom related to a student with a disability," Caforio said. "Once alerted to the situation, the administration immediately began investigating and reached out to the family of the student with a disability. The Elmhurst Police Department's school resource officers were immediately notified of the incident and have been in contact with the parents of the student who was pushed. The investigation continued throughout the weekend and into this week. Once the administration had a full understanding of the situation, significant school consequences were issued to the students involved. Communications were sent on Friday to the York Community making them aware of the incident and to our entire community on Sunday.” 

The Elmhurst Police Department released a statement on the investigation which revealed that the student with special needs is a member of the wrestling team and has engaged in wrestling behavior with four other students, two of whom are his teammates on the wrestling team. According to the police, "no students were physically injured during the incident. Elmhurst police detectives have contacted the parents of the student that was pushed and the parents have declined a formal police investigation.” 

“Both the parents of the student and school administration have decided that this matter would be handled through the school disciplinary process," according to the statement. "The Elmhurst Police Department has offered counseling services to the juveniles involved. As this incident involves children, juvenile confidentiality laws prohibit identification of the students involved and specific disciplinary actions completed.  Based upon the facts known at this time The Elmhurst Police Department will respect the family's decision in the resolution of this matter.” 

Due to privacy laws, the consequences issued to each student, will not be disclosed. 

"There is no question that it is important that the consequences given were both significant and reflect the full impact of their actions on our school community," Caforio said. "That said, as a board of education, we have a responsibility to all of our students in our district. The response to a situation is as impactful as the situation. The administrative team has addressed the behaviors from last week's video and continues to be dedicated to the safety and well-being of all our students there is no place for this behavior and treatment of students with a disability in our schools. To our wider Elmhurst Community. while one incident hurts - and it hurts deeply - the outpouring of compassion in action from our student body at York High School has been nothing short of amazing. We are so proud of our students for their outrage over this situation and their adamant and immediate response to make it clear to everyone that the actions of this small group do not represent the entire York student body.” 

No Elmhurst 205 school board members granted an interview request to discuss the incident. The Elmhurst 205 board is also comprised of Vice President Christopher Kocinski, Secretary Courtenae Trautmann, Athena Arvanitis, Jim Collins, Beth Hosler, and Karen Stuefen.

The Elmhurst Police Department said the child’s parents did not want to press charges. “Video footage indicated five students, including a student with special needs, who were willfully engaging in physical contact while other students observed. At one point, the student with special needs was pushed and fell to the ground,” the police said in a statement, Dupage Policy Journal earlier reported.

Local parents spoke out on the videos. “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.