Community Corner

'I Just Want Her To Be Safe At School': Mom Stands Up To District

A Frankfort mom has turned to the community after she said her daughter faced bullying in a District 157-C school.

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Sydney Davis has faced bullying in D157C schools since 2017, her mother said.
Sydney Davis has faced bullying in D157C schools since 2017, her mother said. (Photo provided by Stephanie Pearson-Davis.)

FRANKFORT, IL — One Frankfort mom has staged protests, gone in front of a judge and had countless meetings with the school district to try to get someone to do something about the bullying her 10-year-old daughter faces. Stephanie Davis said the bullying of her child began in 2017 at District 157-C's Chelsea Intermediate School.

It started on Sydney Davis' first day of third grade. When she came home from school, Stephanie could see she was sad, but Sydney didn't say she had been bullied. Stephanie thought Sydney might still be nervous about school, and she tried to encourage her daughter, telling her the next day would be better.

However, the next day, Sydney called her mom and pleaded with her to come pick her up from school.

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"She was inconsolably crying," Stephanie said. "It wasn't just nervousness."

After Stephanie picked Sydney up from school, Sydney admitted to her mom she was being bullied — something she has in common with one in three U.S. school children. Bullying, whether face-to-face or over the internet, takes a terrible toll on adolescents and teenagers, with the effects sometimes lasting into adulthood. In some cases, relentless bullying ends in suicide — one of the factors that spurred the long running Patch national advocacy reporting project on bullying.

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In Sydney's case, two girls in her class were taking her things and "alienating her in the classroom," her mother said. "They wouldn't help her in work with a group. No one would play with her."

Stephanie talked to Sydney's teacher and school administrators, who said "they'd put helpful support in place," Stephanie said. She agreed, but said that if Sydney was sad or upset, to let her call and Stephanie would come get her from school.

Stephanie said the day after meeting with school officials, she emailed Sydney's teacher, who said Sydney was nervous at the start of the day, but was doing OK. However, when Stephanie picked Sydney up from school that afternoon, she was already crying when she got in the car. Sydney told her mom she had been crying all day and "the teacher wouldn't let her call."

"The teacher didn't care," Stephanie said, adding that she immediately met with the district once more. At this point, Stephanie requested a classroom switch for her daughter. Stephanie said district officials refused and said they wanted to work on the problem.

Stephanie said she "wanted to be cooperative," but told the district if the bullying continued, she wanted Sydney to leave the class. Sydney remained in the class, but nothing changed. Stephanie asked again for a classroom switch, and the district again refused.

"I had to bring in a civil rights attorney to get a different class," she said.

Sydney was finally switched to a new class away from the bullies, and Stephanie said the rest of third grade and fourth grade were "great."

At the end of Sydney's fourth-grade year, Stephanie again met with the district after a girl in Sydney's class recited a racial slur during a rap in front of the class.

At that meeting, Stephanie said Sydney's fifth-grade placement was discussed and the district agreed it wouldn't put her in the same class with the bullies from third grade. Instead, Sydney and her best friend from fourth grade would be placed in the same class.

When class placement lists came out before school this year, Stephanie learned that Sydney wouldn't be with her best friend after all. Stephanie reassured her daughter. They would still see each other outside of class, she said. Everything would be OK.

But when Stephanie and Sydney went to "meet the teacher" night, they learned Sydney had again been placed in the same class as the girls who had bullied her in third grade.

"I didn't even know what to do," Stephanie said. "I started to cry. I was so furious and I couldn't understand why they would do this to my kid."

Stephanie once again met with the district. Officials told her they were "embarrassed," and offered to move Sydney to another class. Stephanie wasn't sure that was the right solution.

Neither was Sydney.

"I can do this," Stephanie recalled her daughter saying. Sydney wanted to see how it would go being in the same class with the girls who had bullied her. Stephanie made clear to district officials that despite the girls being in the same classroom, she didn't want any contact between Sydney and her bullies.

The bullying has started again with the new school year, and Stephanie says her daughter is once again facing social isolation and emotional abuse. The two girls wanted to know from Sydney why she "told on them," and they sought to intimidate her, glaring at her and staring her down.

On Aug. 21, the school district launched an investigation into the situation, going back to 2017, when Stephanie reported Sydney was being bullied. However, Stephanie said she's been told by officials "there is no paperwork" about the incident.

"Bullying is pervasive in our school district and [the district] doesn't do a great job of recording these incidents," Stephanie said.

Stephanie is asking other parents whose kids have been bullied to demand answers about how the situation was handled. She urged them to email board members, ask for an investigation into bullying reports, request data on the incidence of bullying in the district, call for an investigation into hiring practices and request the removal of Superintendent Maura Zinni.

Frustrated with the district's lack of response, Stephanie turned to the Frankfort Police Department to file a police report about the bullying.

Stephanie said the first officer was hesitant to file a report, but Stephanie remained adamant and called for the arrest of the bullies.

"I want the adults to go 'oh my God,'" she said. "This lady is serious."

Stephanie said she wants to get the parents of the kids who bullied her daughter involved, because she doesn't know what they know about the bullying reports.

"I want them to know how serious this is," she said. "And the school is not doing that."

Police did not arrest the girls.

So, after speaking with police, Stephanie went to the Will County Courthouse to ask for an order of protection for her daughter against the bullies. Reluctant to grant an order because of the age of the girls involved, the judge did order one of the girls and her parents to appear in court to discuss what had happened.

"The bullies have been disserviced, too," Stephanie said. "There's no opportunity to learn, because they've never been called to the carpet for their behavior.

"I just want [Sydney] to be safe at school," Stephanie said.

When asked for a comment, District 157-C said in a statement it "does not tolerate bullying of any kind and takes proactive measures to ensure the safety of its students at all times."

"The District 157-C administration investigates any bullying complaints in accordance with the Board of Education’s anti-bullying policy and collaborates with staff, parents and students to develop a supportive educational environment," the district said.

In its statement, the district said it cannot comment on any specific allegation due to federal and state laws protecting student privacy.

On Sept. 12, Stephanie wrote on Facebook that the district's investigation into the bullying concluded "that no bullying was found."

"No bullying was found in 2017, and no bullying was found this year, either," Stephanie wrote of investigators' conclusions. "What this district has shown me, consistently, is that they do not have the best interests of my family, my children, at heart."

Stephanie said district officials not only said there was no bullying, but offered a comprehensive evaluation of Sydney.

"It's not only was she not bullied, but now she's emotionally unstable," Stephanie said of the district's response.

Sydney has missed several days of school this year, but has started going to school again, her mother said. Despite the investigation results, in a video on Facebook, Stephanie said Sydney went to school Sept. 12 and had "an amazing day."

"Thank you to the parents of those children in that classroom community, and even to the teachers in her classes who are making it a point to make sure that she feels welcome," Stephanie said.

Stephanie encouraged parents to reach out to her if their children have faced bullying in the district.

"I will continue this fight for my child, and all children," Stephanie said.

The Menace Of Bullies: Patch Advocacy Reporting Project

As part of a national reporting project, Patch has been looking at society's roles and responsibilities in bullying and a child's unthinkable decision to end their own life in hopes we might offer solutions that save lives.

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