Charges of cyber bullying in a kindergarten class are stirring up controversy at Webster Elementary School. On May 10, a website titled “MakeWebsterSafeAgain.com” was introduced to parents of Room One. The highly charged website, which was created anonymously, threatens lawsuits against the parents of a special education student — even going as far as requesting a temporary restraining order against the kindergartener. The site, which has now been altered to limit access, demands that the youngster in question be pulled from the classroom, just weeks before the school year is to end.
The six-year-old child (whom The Malibu Times chooses not to identify in order to protect his privacy) attends Webster under an Individualized Education Program (IEP) and has an aide who accompanies him at all times during the school day to help with his needs. While his parents acknowledge there have been a handful of reported incidents of hitting and tantrums where other children’s projects have been affected, they claim their child has not physically hurt anyone nor is capable of doing so at such a young age.
An incident on May 5 where the child was physically removed from the classroom seems to have sparked the outrage from some parents and became the impetus for the anonymous website. The original website, which was made available to The Malibu Times, claims the child is “an IMMEDIATE THREAT TO THE SAFETY of the other students.” It demands the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District remove the child from Room One at Webster and that he be placed in a special education class or face lawsuits against the district and the child’s parents. A claim of a report to the Los Angeles County Sheriff was also made, although any action on their part would be highly unlikely considering the age of the child allegedly involved.
“We would like to remind you that our number is greater than yours,” the anonymously created website states, threatening restraining orders. “Our legal expenses will be shared and your legal expenses will be paid only by you including attorney’s fees and any damages we’re awarded if any.”
A photo of the children in the class was included on the original website, which reportedly disturbed some parents who were not notified their children’s images would appear on the controversial site. A caption under the photo says the child in question was not included because he was “suffering a behavioral episode at the time the photo was taken.”
Under California law, special education students are legally allowed to “mainstream” in public schools by using an IEP. In this case the student has aides, but their turnover has been high. In emails obtained by The Malibu Times, Webster Principal Dr. Susan Samarge-Powell has been charged by parents with “putting her own career ahead of the health and safety of the children” by concealing the issue from the district and not suspending the IEP student. This is Samarge-Powell’s last year at Webster. On April 17, weeks before the Webster controversy came to light, Samarge-Powell was promoted to be the new SMMUSD director of early learning.
Days after the IEP student was dragged from the classroom, the parents of the child questioned the teacher on why the IEP directive was not followed. They claim their child was humiliated in front of the other students and was denied education for the day. Claiming harassment, the regular classroom teacher has since taken a leave of absence, but is believed to return May 30. The parents of the child in question told The Malibu Times their child has since been thriving under the supervision of a substitute teacher.
In an effort to educate parents about special education and IEPs, the district held a meeting May 22 meant for Room One parents only. By all accounts from those in attendance who contacted this newspaper, the meeting was a disaster. With no verification of who was admitted, the meeting was described as “angry” by an observer and with a “lynch mob mentality” according to Eric Menyuk, the attorney representing the family of the IEP student.
“It was uncivil. Take away the pitchforks and torches and that’s what you had,” Menyuk described. “Parents were yelling.” In addition, the teacher’s husband also showed up with a video camera causing dissent among many parents who did not want to appear on camera, even though many came in support of the teacher.
Superintendant Dr. Ben Drati, who attended the meeting issued a statement:
“The information associated with the anonymous press release is filled with misleading information and we believe is a bullying tactic against an innocent child,” Drati’s statement read in part. “We are disturbed by what has been clearly a lack of empathy, compassion and a violation of student privacy rights. We do not condone any form of bullying from adults and children and we hope that this belief is also shared by all community members.”
Empathy was also encouraged by the co-founder of the Malibu Special Education Foundation, Laureen Sills, who wrote, “In this current political climate, where it has become acceptable to bully and tear people down, we MUST stand up and say NOT IN MY BACKYARD!
“If we allow kindergarten parents to hide behind anonymous threats to a child with disabilities and his family, where is the heart of this community?” Sills asked.
Representatives for the anonymous group of Room One parents were unable to be reached by the time The Malibu Times went to print.
Publisher’s note:
We would like to hear from the kindergarten teacher or the parents of the children who created the website and feel the system is not working as it should. You can email me at agyork@malibutimes.com or our managing editor Emily Sawicki at emily@malibutimes.com
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified IEPs as “Independent Education Programs” rather than “Individualized Education Programs.” The story has been updated to reflect corrected information.