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Last week, an eighth grade student from the Guilmette School was
suspended when a gun was found in his locker. The only way parents
heard about it was through their own children because the
administration never contacted them to put their minds at ease.
The same thing happened a couple of weeks earlier at that
school when a knife was found in the student’s possession.
A few months ago, a student at the Henry K. Oliver School was seen
showing his BB gun to his peers in the bathroom. It was days later
when parents were notified of that incident. “My interpretation of
what they told me was that they did not want to bother parents
with something they had already resolved,” a mother told me.
Last November, a sixth grader at the Oliver School was caught
trying to sell marihuana to other children. Two days later,
parents were notified that the student had been permanently
removed from school.
Some parents of the Oliver School want a meeting with the school
authorities to be assured that their children’s safety will not be
jeopardized any longer but it is to no avail.
“There are thousands of mothers like myself who would like to be
able to pay for private education,” said a woman who didn’t want
to be identified. “The public school system that we have,
beginning with the clown that we have as superintendent, is a
disaster and we know our children are receiving a mediocre
education. Unfortunately, that is not possible and we have to send
our children day after day not knowing what to expect,” she added.
But the school that seems to have the most incidents is the
Guilmette. About three weeks ago, someone was caught with a knife
but there have been six knife incidents in recent weeks there. In
that latest case, the student was dismissed and he made an
appearance in court but last week, according to some students who
witnessed it, an eighth grader was hiding a gun in his locker
under some books. He was arrested by police officers and kicked
out of school.
As in the Oliver School cases, parents are not notified when these
things happen and their questions to the administration go
unanswered.
Four members of the School Committee were contacted and they have
no idea that these incidents are taking place. Amy McGovern wants
to place in the next agenda a motion forcing the administration to
notify them within 24 hours of anything happening that may involve
the police or the safety of the student body.
Upon calling Police Chief John J. Romero, he assured me that there
are no records involving Lawrence Police and the incidents listed
above. When asked if Lawrence police officers are the ones
frisking students at the Guilmette School he said that police
officers don’t do that.
Parents have expressed their disgust at the fact that their
children are being frisked by officers with a female officer
searching the girls for weapons. “There has to be a better way!”
said a mother on the telephone.
Chief Romero agreed that children may not distinguish between a
police officer and a security guard from the school system. Too
many students are telling awful stories to their parents; the
administration is not giving them the right answers and it has
become obvious that the two police officers assigned to the school
system for emergencies are kept out of the loop. Since no reports
are ever made, the police department has no knowledge of
vandalism, weapons, personal attacks, etc. involving the schools.
One sad reality is that the security guards are now unionized and
part of the contract gives them an incentive for keeping school
incidents at a lower level.
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