It seems that some kind of bullying is a problem in at least two Waterford Township schools, though mean kids aren't the only focus of an Oakland Press report by Megan Semeraz.
Waterford Village Elementary School Principal Valerie Grimes has personally filed a lawsuit against parent Monica Combs, citing defamation of character by Combs on social media websites about bullying, along with allegations such as the principal ignores school safety and bullies students herself.
April Wright started an online parents' forum.
Combs and more than 180 other parents belong to a private Facebook group called Stop the Bullying in the Waterford School District, where parents share their kids' tales and discuss whether educators are doing enough. In an administrator's note, Pierce Middle school parent April Wright tells why she created the page:
"This is a group I started after my daughter started being bullied. As a parent it is our job to make sure our children feel safe at school. It is my hope that the Waterford School District will be made aware of this group and that things will change."
The Press reporter spoke with four unnamed mothers.
One says two of her three kids at Waterford Village Elementary – a son in first grade and a fifth-grade daughter -- are continuously bullied.
"I started questioning about why parents weren’t being told a thing when children were being assaulted," she said. . . . "All I am trying to do . . . is make the school better."
Another says she transferred her three kids to another district because of bullying. “By the end of the year, they were scared to go to school . . . and afraid to tell the teacher" about problems," she's quoted as saying.
Principal Grimes and the district superintendent declined Semeraz's invitation to comment.
Grimes' defamation suit seeks $25,000 in damages from Combs for social media posts saying the principal ignores school safety and bullies students herself.
