Middle School Official Weighs In On Violent Incident

When Evan St. George was bused home last week with a gashed lip and a sprained wrist, school officials tried their best to give the student medical attention and ensure proper repercussions for the boy's attacker, according to Steven Boss, Vice Principal of the Feinstein Academy.  

The conflict began more than two weeks ago when St. George was allegedly attacked while waiting for the bus after finishing his after-school program. The attacker ran off and was not apprehended.

Last week, why his son was not given proper medical attention and why the police were not called in the incident.

According to Scott St. George, Marissa Pinto, a social worker for the school, called him after the altercation and said his son had just a small scratch on his lip. The director from the 12-year-old's day care program, Kid's Klub, called shortly after, upset at the boy's appearance.

At Woonsocket Urgent Care, Evan was treated for a gash in his lip and a sprained wrist.

St. George also felt that the school did not follow its own "zero tolerance" policy on violence in this instance, as police were not called. St. George said that this is the second such instance where he felt the school's tough policy on violence did not apply to his son. Evan, he said, was punched in the classroom not long ago and his attacker just received detention. His son, meanwhile, was arrested during the one incident where he was deemed the aggressor.

Boss explained the school's side of the issue to Patch this week. 

"Evan didn't want medical attention," said Boss. "Evan wanted to get on the bus."

Boss explained that although Evan was bleeding from the lip, he told school officials he was fine. "We can't physically drag a child to the nurse's office. When a kid refuses medical attention, we have no way of knowing what is wrong with him."

Scott St. George alleged that because the school nurse had left for the day, Evan's injuries were minimized and the family was led to believe they were not severe. "To me," St. George said, "it seems like they're trying to cut corners and not handle their responsibility."

Boss was unsure if the school's nurse was around at the time of the incident, but insisted that the school would have sought medical attention for Evan if they knew he needed it. 

Furthernore, according to Boss, when Pinto told Evan St. George's father that his son was bleeding, Scott St. George replied that he was working and unable to pick the boy up.

The school, Boss added, does follow a zero tolerance policy on fighting incidents, but Evan's attacker was actually a student at another facility, St. Mary's Academy, and was visiting the middle school for an after school program. "We notified St. Mary's Academy. We have no jurisdiction there."

Boss also explained that police are typically called only when all students involved are present. "If the kids are not with us after the altercation, the police won't do anything."

"In the first incident, we were able to contact the police because the teacher was able to corral the kids," Boss said.

Boss did not recall the incident in which Evan was punched in the classroom, but was certain the school's policy would have been followed. "If it happened in the school, I would guarantee the police were notified," he said.

The "detention" St. George refered to, Boss explained, was MAPS, a "out of school suspension alternative" which is far more than detention.

"It's a form of suspension that does not force the student to fall behind on their school work. I use this program as a consequence so they are not missing their educational needs."

Evan's recent attacker was treated with the same severity as any other middle school student, Boss added. "St. Mary's asked what our policy was and said that they wanted to follow it." In this case, school officials recommended suspension and the vice principal said he has not seen the child in question since the incident.

"We try to be proactive," Boss said. "I definitely plan on having a remediation as soon as he returns, to look at what kind of solution we can come up with to make sure this does not happen again."