Springfield 4th Grader Won't Go To School Because Of Bullies, Mom's Plea For New Classroom Rejected

SPRINGFIELD, NJ — Nine-year-old Emma Spektor has had to endure daily bullying from classmates for an entire school year, her family says. Now her mom, Irina Spektor, is fighting the school system to try and get Emma transferred away from the bullies.

It began when Emma was in the third grade during the 2016-17 school year at Thelma L. Sandmeier School in Springfield, her mother said.

“It started with two students, and they eventually recruited more that were really, really bothering her,” Irina Spektor said. “They were calling her names, making fun of her physical markings such as freckles and birthmarks, taking away her school supplies and distracting her so she couldn’t complete her work. It went on for the full school year.”

Although it began last year, Emma was afraid to tell her mom because she feared she would contact the school or teacher and that would make matters worse for her. It wasn’t until the end of the school year that Emma opened up to her mom under one condition — that she promise not to do anything about it.

Irina Spektor promised, but struggled with it over the summer.

“I was scared that if I didn’t keep my word, she would never share with me ever again,” she said. “So I just offered her support.”

As the summer went on, Emma went away for four weeks to a sleep-away camp and adjusted well. She even was starting to get excited for the new year.

It wasn’t until Irina Spektor got a letter from the school letting her know that Emma’s entire class, the same students and teacher, were being kept together for the fourth grade.

Emma was mortified. She was afraid to go back and couldn’t even rely on her teacher, who told Emma last year that she was a “smart girl and could figure it out for herself.”

Irina said she met with Principal Michael Plias and told him about the alleged bullying.

“I told him I am not here to get anyone in trouble or cause any trouble, I just need my child to be safe and have a safe classroom setting and one that she doesn’t have to look over her shoulder,” the child's mother said.

Plias told her he would open a bully report to investigate the situation, but also refused to move Emma to one of the school's three other fourth-grade classrooms, according to Irina.

Superintendent Michael Davino did not return a request for comment from Patch.

While the bullying investigation went on, Irina described a nightmare in which Emma would cry and beg her every morning not to go to school.

“For two weeks she would gradually withdraw from normal daily activities at school, she would eat lunch with the guidance counselor, she wouldn’t play with anyone at recess,” Irina Spektor said.

Emma also began to experience physical side effects of the bullying.

“She was really, really upset, developing headaches, stomach aches, she couldn’t sleep, her anxiety increased daily,” her mother said. “But every trip she made to the guidance counselor made things look worse for her. She was digging her own grave. It was a lose-lose situation for her.”

Irina took Emma to her pediatrician and a therapist to help her with the situation. She said she even gave the superintendent a note from the pediatrician that specifically said Emma's anxiety was due to her classroom placement.

The school concluded their investigation and said that there were no signs of bullying, according to Emma's family. That following Monday, Oct. 2, Emma stayed home.

She has stayed home ever since.

“Nothing short of bruises or a suicide note would be acceptable evidence that she was being bullied,” her mother said. “To be perfectly honest, I don’t care if they have sufficient evidence… I am simply asking for her to be moved from that environment so she can return to school.”

“I would rather her repeat fourth grade then lose her forever,” Irina Spektor said, referring to a similar situation in Rockaway where 12-year-old Mallory Grossman took her own life following bullying at her school.

Emma’s brother, who attends the same school, brings her homework to her so she can complete it and send back to school. The school said it would send a homeschooling curriculum, but the family has yet to receive anything.

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