Word: herrera
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...monitor - and one that could leave schools open to more lawsuits from the parents of bullied children. Indeed, a lawyer for Atlanta resident Masika Bermudez says she plans to sue the DeKalb County School System for a "substantial amount" for alleged negligence involving her 11-year-old son, Jaheem Herrera, who hanged himself in his bedroom closet on April 16. Bermudez says she complained to officials at Dunaire Elementary School that the fifth-grader was being taunted by bullies who called him "gay" and a "snitch" and who once put him in a sleeper hold in a school bathroom...
...school system released an internal report today that concluded Herrera had not been subjected to more teasing than his peers. At a press conference, retired judge Thelma Wyatt Cummings Moore, who was brought in by the school district to conduct the investigation, pointed to the difficulty Dunaire, like all schools, faces in monitoring bullying. "There is name-calling, there is teasing, but I will tell you that it is almost always done outside the presence of adults," Moore said. "There is a code of silence among the students...
...Griggs said the National Action Network will stage a protest outside of Herrera's former elementary school on Friday and that the Rev. Al Sharpton is planning to attend a town-hall meeting next week about what happened at Dunaire. Since Herrera's suicide, other parents in DeKalb County have come forward alleging that the school system ignored their children's complaints about bullying...
...After the Herrera suicide, the DeKalb County school district hired Moore to conduct an independent investigation of its response to Bermudez's bullying complaints and brought in a school-safety expert to review the district's anti-bullying system. DeKalb County uses the Anti-Defamation League's No Place for Hate program, which integrates lessons about diversity into the school curriculum and makes students sign a pledge of respect. But ADL regional director Bill Nigut says the anti-hate program does not involve teacher and student training about inappropriate behavior and is not designed to protect students from harm. (Read...
...general, Thomas said, bullying can be reported to any adult at school. A report leads to an investigation and appropriate discipline. After three reports of bullying, an accused bully is supposed to face a hearing, Thomas said. Complicating the Herrera case is Moore's findings that the boy sometimes actively participated in fights. Can the bullied also be bullies...