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player ready...A “Statement to the York Community” distributed Dec. 15 by the Elmhurst District 205 administration and attributed to an unnamed student leadership team calls on all students to “implement direct solutions that promote belonging, equity and acceptance” in response to a recent incident in which a student with a disability was pushed to the floor in a school washroom.
The incident was reported in the Tribune onDec. 12. Video shows York High School student with disability was pushed (chicagotribune.com)
While the members of the leadership team were not named because they are minors, a district official said the students involved are members of various student leadership organizations at York, including the York Student Council, some of whose members are listed on the school’s website.
Some students had called for a walkout on Friday (Dec. 16) as a way to call for change at York, but the statement from the leadership team called for a “focus on the problem from the inside out” in lieu of a walkout. The statement said students should focus on educating themselves on being tolerant and inclusive and having the courage to stand up for what is right. Some students were said to have left the building briefly Friday but soon returned from the cold and snow.
School officials and police have said the pushing incident is being resolved internally with consequences for the students involved.
Elmhurst police confirmed that in a news release on the incident sent Dec. 13.
“Elmhurst Police Detectives have contacted the parents of the student that was pushed and the parents have declined a formal police investigation,” according to the release, sent over the authority of Police Chief Michael McLean. “Both the parents of the student and school administration have decided that this matter would be handled through the school disciplinary process.”
At the beginning of last week’s regularly scheduled District 205 school board meeting, board President Kara Caforio called the incident heartbreaking.
“Bullying or violence of any kind will not be tolerated in Elmhurst District 205,” Caforio said then. “Any student who chooses to engage in this behavior will face consequences for their actions.”
Caforio said that after administration officials had a full understanding of the incident, “significant consequences were issued to the students involved.”
In their release, police said investigation revealed that the student with special needs, who is a member of the wrestling team, engaged in wrestling behavior with four other students, two of whom are his teammates on the wrestling team. In the video recording, a student who is not on the wrestling team appears to have pushed the student with special needs after physical contact was made.
In their statement, student leaders said it was time for “feelings of anger and disgust to evolve into actions that will foster a better kinder learning environment for everyone.”
Links to both Superintendent Keisha Campbell’s response to the incident and the Elmhurst Police Department release can be found on the York Clubs and Organizations page: Clubs and Organizations — York Community High School (elmhurst205.org).
Graydon Megan is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.