Parents Say Fox Lane Trying To 'Run Out Clock' On Abuse Scandal

BEDFORD, NY — Parents again assailed school board members over the way the district has handled disturbing allegations about special needs students being abused, bullied and sexually exploited at Fox Lane High School.

Parents at the most recent Bedford Central School District Board of Education meeting said that the disturbing incidents in which photos shared online of naked students, some of whom are non-verbal, came to light when parents pressed administrators to alert the families of the students affected. School officials have still not been clear about how long they were aware of the abusive incidents that took place in school restrooms beginning as early September and as recently as March.

Even after the families managed to get to the truth, they say administrators and school board members have failed to treat the outrageous behavior as seriously as it deserves.

SEE: School District Responds To Alarming Allegations Of Abuse

For their part, the board said the school district has taken "every possible course of action to address the incident." The school board has already voted unanimously to hire an independent consultant to investigate the way administrators handled the serious accusations of abuse against the school's most vulnerable students.

"The district administrators have been fully cooperating with law enforcement in the district-initiated student disciplinary proceedings against those students who may have been responsible," BOE President John Boucher said reading from a prepared statement at the April 20, public meeting. "The school board recognizes that parents send their children to school trusting that the district will keep their children safe. As a result of the incident at Fox Lane High School, some parents, especially parents of children with special needs believe that sense of security has been breached.... Preventative actions have already been undertaken such as ensuring that the Fox Lane High School bathrooms are monitored more frequently."

Parents who spoke at the meeting, some of whom have already accused the district of trying to sweep the incidents under the rug, said that the board's latest actions amount to little more than lip service.

"The administration should be punished for their dereliction of duties — not the teachers who are the heroes in this situation everyday but the administration, including the deans, superintendent and head of school who did not notify parents of the actions once they found out," parent Joseph Filippone told the board. "You know about the bullying and the evidence against the students who brought the sexual violation to the attention of the district. The administration knows the details and you as the board are not addressing it. It is your responsibility to manage this administration on your behalf. Not sidle up to them ... I can tell you that this community is not going to let you run out the clock once again on our students as we have done for the end of the school year."

Parents who were affected said that the district's lack of transparency has eroded any trust that officials intend to follow through with promises to take responsibility.

"If it wasn’t for the parents’ actions in the specific case, we would not have any evidence and this issue would not even be in the public eye," parent Karen Close, the mother of one of the victims said. "It may be easy for most people to move forward from this and say how can we prevent it from ever happening again. I must believe that there is no one who would not support that BCSD needs to be aggressive and immediately identifying and preventing this or any other form of bullying going forward. But, unfortunately, I also believe that I may never feel the lump in my throat or the upset stomach and tears that form in my eyes every morning as I drop my son off at the high school each morning. I hope that in time I will find a way for that to get better."

The full statement read by Bedford Central School District Board of Education President John Boucher can be read in its entirety below:

During the previous board meeting, there was a lengthy and important discussion about an incident that occurred at Fox Lane High School, which involved special education students being photographed in a bathroom by other students.

The school board and the district administrators condemn these egregious acts and we have taken every possible course of action to address the incident. The district administrators have been fully cooperating with law enforcement in the district-initiated student disciplinary proceedings against those students who may have been responsible.

The school board recognizes that parents send their children to school trusting that the district will keep their children safe. As a result of the incident at Fox Lane High School, some parents, especially parents of children with special needs, believe that sense of security has been breached.

As a school board, it is our duty to rebuild that trust. Therefore, we will be hiring an independent firm to fully review the incident at Fox Lane High School and to review the district’s current policies, procedures, practices, culture and training to better protect the safety and privacy of all students.

We understand that the community has many questions and we wish that we could provide answers for every single one of those questions but please understand that federal law prevents us from releasing confidential information about students. We are legally prohibited from discussing any details regarding the alleged victims or the alleged perpetrators.

With regard to questions about the specific timeline of events in district actions, we do not want to jeopardize the independent review by prematurely releasing information that could impact the firm’s conclusions.

The board has already begun the process of vetting independent firms to conduct a review and we will take the necessary steps based upon the results of the review.

In the meanwhile, preventative actions have already been undertaken such as ensuring that the Fox Lane High School bathrooms are monitored more frequently.

The superintendent and every single school board member takes your concerns very seriously. No amount of policies, procedures can prevent every potential problem but we are committed to doing everything in our power to make our schools as safe and secure as they can possibly be for every student attending Bedford Central School District.