Choked-Up Elmhurst D205 Leader: Incident 'Hurts Deeply'

ELMHURST, IL – Elmhurst's school board president choked up Tuesday as she described York High students' reactions to the incident in a school restroom last week.

"To our wider Elmhurst community, while one incident hurts – and it hurts deeply – the outpouring of compassion and action by our student body at York High School has been nothing short of amazing," President Kara Caforio said at Tuesday's school board meeting. "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."

Caforio read a statement at the beginning of the board meeting, which took place at York. It was in response to a video distributed on social media that appeared to show a group of boys bullying a student with a disability, with one of them pushing him to the floor.

However, a couple of hours before the meeting, Elmhurst police released a statement saying that the student with a disability, who is a member of the school's wrestling team, engaged in "wrestling behavior" with the others.

Police also said the student's parents declined to request a formal police investigation. According to the statement, police had a second video of another time segment of the altercation.

Caforio said she knew many residents were frustrated they did not know all the details of the incident. She said social media was full "of partial facts, conjecture and sensationalism."

"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.

She said the administration was conducting a full investigation, including what happened in the moments before and after what the videos documented.

During public comments, a few residents spoke out for students with disabilities, saying last week's incident was not isolated.

York senior Dominic Begora, a member of the football and wrestling teams, said that after seeing the video, he did not believe the school was taking the correct measures.

"The problem with the video was not solely the push, but rather the laughing and videotaping that took place after," he said.

He said the incident stemmed from a lack of training for students and staff on how to treat and support students with disabilities.

"Students put in that position don't know what to do and fall back on making fun of someone they do not fully understand," Begora said. "When things finally got out of control, no student had the courage to stand up. All that happens in this district is that fires are put out, rather than prevented."

He said his sixth-grade sister has Down syndrome and is unable to attend Sandburg Middle School because of the mistreatment of students with disabilities.

"Increased education on how to treat and support kids with disabilities is not only needed but vital to create a community of warmth and helpfulness, and that starts with you," Begora told the board.

Resident Elena Cutri, who has two students at York and one at Bryan Middle School, said Thursday's incident was not isolated. She then gave a sampling of what she said were other incidents in the schools.

"A seventh grader taunted in the locker room. A student bullied by fellow football players so badly he can't bring himself to join another sport. A boy holds his girlfriend's hand and a picture is taken with images twisted to make it out like he is hurting her. Students are laughed at and called out in the restroom," Cutri said.

She asked the board not to "minimize what happened last week as a one-off, atypical situation because that's not what it is."

"If we do nothing, it will happen again," she said.

Under its policy, the board does not respond to public comments during its meetings.