York High Bathroom Incident Outrages Public

ELMHURST, IL – A York High School student with a disability was the target of an incident last week on campus, the school district said.

Late Friday morning, Principal Shahe Bagdasarian sent a mass email to York families informing them about the incident during school hours the previous day.

Bagdasarian described it as a "student pushing another student."

On Thursday afternoon, he said, the administration began receiving reports of the incident from students and employees, Bagdasarian said.

He said the school immediately started investigating.

Over the weekend, an online petition expressing outrage over the incident drew thousands of signatures.

Mid-afternoon Sunday, Elmhurst School District 205 Superintendent Keisha Campbell sent a second mass email to York families.

She said a "deeply disturbing" video of the incident began to circulate on social media Thursday evening.

"The video showed an aggressive physical altercation by a student toward another student with a disability, while a group of bystanders watched and laughed," Campbell said. "Throughout the day on Friday, students involved in the situation were interviewed and significant school consequences were issued."

She did not say what the consequences were.

In his email, Bagdasarian did not mention police involvement. Campbell, however, said the Elmhurst Police Department's resource officers were notified and have been in contact with the parents of the student who was pushed.

But Campbell did not say when the officers were told. A school spokeswoman said Monday morning that the police department's school resource officers were informed immediately.

"We are deeply disappointed and saddened by the actions of this small group of students," Campbell said. "Bullying, intimidation, and harassment diminish a student's ability to learn and a school's ability to educate. Such behaviors are not tolerated, and any student who chooses to engage in these behaviors will face the appropriate consequences."

As of Monday morning, a Change.org petition spotlighting the incident attracted nearly 4,500 signatures.

The petition said the attack occurred in a restroom. It said state agencies "sadly place restrictions on appropriate disciplinary actions in school," allowing bad behavior to continue.

"We need reform in our school now. We need bathroom reform in terms of supervision procedures and accountability," the statement said. "We need a safe learning environment for all students."

Early Friday morning, a reader informed Patch that a majority of York's restrooms were closed. He wondered why.

Shortly after 7 a.m. Friday, Patch emailed the school district's spokeswoman, Tonya Daniels, to ask about the status of York's restrooms.

By 5 p.m. Friday, Patch had not received an answer. It then sent a public records request to the district.