As with schools across the nation, Hampton Elementary started the year with a fresh slate, yet that hasn’t prevented one parent from wanting to discuss last year, specifically the difficulties her son encountered in sixth grade. After airing grievances with school officials on all levels, parent Lynn Yuhas met with Gazette staff armed with a large folder of documentation illustrating the struggles her son faced in an atmosphere she claims allows “bullying by adults”. Ms. Yuhas’s son spent all of his elementary school years in Hampton, starting in pre-school, with little to no concerns on the part of the teachers or the parents, but this last year was plagued with problems from beginning to end.
Ms. Yuhas first became alarmed when she received notification of an incident that occurred when her son was asked to finish an assignment – a creative project – she helped him complete at home. Nevertheless, he complied with the directive until another student, who later admitted that he was only joking, claimed that her son intentionally broke a pencil, conduct that the teacher labeled “aggressive and troubling”. Ms. Yuhas said the report characterized her son as a “monster who scares his peers”, an assessment other parents validated, stating that it read as though he had “gone on the attack with a butcher knife”.
He was not afforded an opportunity to defend himself before the teacher reprimanded him and sent him to the principal’s office. His version? The tip of the pencil broke while he was using it. The teacher admitted that, though he didn’t meet with the principal, he returned to the classroom and “regrouped nicely”, and that she hadn’t actually observed the incident herself, but that his peers “seemed startled”. Ms. Yuhas suggested that perhaps the teacher’s reaction to a broken pencil is what startled them.
There were many academic concerns as well. Ms. Yuhas shared papers where the teacher marked, for example, “45 minutes” with an arrow pointing to a math problem, with no evidence that guidance was offered for the duration, only a record of the length of the struggle. Negative comments increased throughout the year in the student’s notebook without communication with the parent. For the first time in his life, her son was sent to special classrooms to receive assistance in math and reading, despite the student-staff ratio. There were only twelve students in the sixth grade, with one full time teacher and two full time paraprofessionals, whose services were not limited to the specific students to whom they were assigned. The change was so “abrupt” and “extreme” that Ms. Yuhas requested her son be evaluated, behaviorally and academically, but the response from Principal Sam Roberson was that her son did not meet the criteria for formal testing.
A final incident drove Ms. Yuhas to publically air her concerns to the Board of Education where she described what occurred on field day when a verbal exchange between her son and another student turned into a scuffle, not unusual during the less restrictive, physical setting. Both boys were punished, excluded for the remainder of the day from the activities, both apologized to the teachers, the principal, their parents, and one another, and were back to “being buddies” five minutes after the skirmish occurred.
Ms. Yuhas believed the punishment to be appropriate, but four days later Principal Roberson informed her that the decision was made to exclude her son from the class field trip due to “unpredictable and uncontrollable behavior” based on the field day incident. He was to sit in the school office for the day, instead. Ms. Yuhas objected, stating that he already served his punishment. Nor was she offered an opportunity to accompany him on the trip, a typical solution. It’s important to note that the field trip was educational in nature, to the State Capitol, presumably studied prior to the trip. Her son was given a packet to complete with questions – including information asking him to search for specific items at the Capitol.
After her impassioned plea to the school board on June 27, she was urged to speak to Superintendent Frank Olah, a meeting which finally yielded some satisfaction. According to Ms. Yuhas, after reviewing documentation, Superintendent Olah concurred that her son was the “victim” of these circumstances, and reportedly sent a communication to his new school that the documentation they received was not indicative of the student’s abilities. Apparently, a negative report card was sent to the new school, but not to the parent, who was unable to obtain a copy until the end of July. It should be noted that in contradiction to the poor grades from the classroom teacher, the student scored well in all other areas – art, music and gym – socially and academically. He is also a member of the local baseball team where he plays first base and pitches, and a member of the local boy scout troop, where his troop leaders place him on a “high pedestal”, noting his conduct, leadership and level of independence.
Ms. Yuhas claims that several other parents voiced concerns, including one parent who was not informed of the circumstances of an imposed in-school suspension. The Gazette can confirm the complaints of another parent who privately aired grievances with several of our board members but wished to remain anonymous. Nor is Ms. Yuhas’ son the only student withdrawn from the district this year; three of the twelve students are attending schools elsewhere. In the last decade, the population at Hampton Elementary has nearly halved, the result of families moving to other towns and selecting private, parochial, magnet and home school options. Enrollment has dwindled down to a total of 93 students in pre-school through grade six, with a classroom average of 11 students.
Though the Board of Education accepted the resignation of the sixth grade teacher on July 25, it is Ms. Yuhas’ hope that sharing her son’s experiences will raise awareness and empower parents, with the ultimate goal of positive change for all the children at the school. The Superintendent and the Principal declined comment.