Dupage Policy Journal

The Elmhurst Community Unit School District 205 during its Dec. 13 meeting addressed a video posted on social media.

The video showed a special-needs student being bullied, and members of the community blamed the district for not doing more to prevent it.

Kara Coforio, president of the district's Board of Education, called the incident heartbreaking and said bullying and violence against students would not be tolerated.

A video was posted on social media on Dec. 8 of the incident. It showed a student with Down syndrome being shoved into the boy’s bathroom and laughed at by other students. The video also showed a group of bystanders who encouraged the bullying and did nothing to stop it, the district reported.

"The administration is equally appalled by the incident and 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 on the video," Coforio said during the meeting. "While multiple communications have been sent out to York parents, district parents, and to the parents of our students with disabilities, many of you have also expressed frustration in not knowing all the details. Social media is unfortunately unexpectedly replete with partial facts, conjecture, and sensationalism."

Coforio attempted to clarify the events surrounding the case, adding that the district "must respect the privacy of our students within the bounds of the law and are [sic] not able to divulge all the information that you may desire." 

She said that when administrative team at York High School first received a report of the incident, staff immediately began to investigate and contacted the family of the victim. 

"Significant school consequences were issued to the students involved" after officials and school resource officers investigated, Coforio said.

Several members of the community came forward to comment on the attack. The parents of another special-needs student said that although their child has not experienced bullying, they wanted the district to set an example so such acts would not be condoned. 

Dominic Begora, a senior at York High School and member of the football and wrestling teams, said the problem with the incident was not merely the student being shoved, but the laughing and filming by other students. Begora criticized the district for not spreading proper awareness of bullying and special-needs students.

"This all stems from the lack of education at our schools, from both the middle and high schools," he said. In the case of the onlookers, he said, students who don't understand another student's circumstances often fall back on teasing and making fun of the other student instead, and "no student had the courage to stand up." 

Begora said the district bore the responsibility for not being proactive.

"All that happens in this district is that fires are put out instead of prevented," he said.