Mom upset with way son’s injuries handled at school

Mom upset with way son’s
injuries handled at school
Classroom assault
leaves eighth-grader
with concussion
By clare marie celano
Staff Writer

Marjorie Goetz’s 13-year-old son now has a permanent scar to remind him of the incident that changed the course of his school day on May 20.

According to Goetz, her son was "brutally assaulted" by another eighth-grader in a classroom at the Freehold Intermediate School, Park Avenue, Freehold Borough, after the two boys exchanged words. In addition to the emotions that consume parents when their child has been injured, Goetz is disturbed about the way her child’s case was handled by school administrators.

Goetz’s son was not suspended from school; his assailant received a 10-day suspension and will not return to the school, according to Superintendent of Schools Janet Kalafat.

Goetz addressed the Board of Education by reading from a prepared statement during a June 2 meeting. The meeting at the intermediate school was attended by more than 100 parents and teachers who brought recent incidents of violence at the school to the attention of the board.

Goetz said that during the classroom altercation, her son "was beaten about the head and face repeatedly (by a 14-year-old eighth-grade boy). After the beating, my son was made to get up and walk through the school to the nurse’s office."

Goetz said her son sustained a fractured nose and a concussion and needed stitches over his ear to close a wound. She provided a complete account of the incident in a letter she sent to the school board and the Borough Council.

"Acts of assault have gone uninvestigated, outrageous behavior has gone improperly reprimanded, and the lack of clear and concise reporting to this board and the parents by the principal and his staff has directly caused the ‘rumor mill’ to which (Principal Darrell Jackson) likes to refer. Gangs of children have been allowed to run wild on the streets, taking matters into their own hands in search of some kind of justice," she said.

Goetz said she will request a full report of all acts of violence as reported to the state and to the Freehold Borough Police Department.

"I will then ask you (board members) to compare them to the many reports from parents and children that went uninvesti­gated and unreported. We need to ask our­selves why there has been such a discrep­ancy in accountability and judgment," she said.

Goetz gave the following account of the May 20 incident involving her son. She said she was called in the early after­noon by the school nurse, who told her that her son had been involved in a fight and might need stitches. Goetz was in Brick Township, Ocean County, at the time she was called.

"I asked the nurse if he needed an am­bulance to transport him to the hospital, because at the time I was 45 minutes away. She said that would not be neces­sary. I accepted this," Goetz said.

Goetz said that she called the school back as she was driving to Freehold from Brick and said she wanted to speak to Jackson, but was told he was unavailable.

"I asked if the police were notified. (The person who answered the phone in the main office) told me that she was un­able to answer that question. I then asked her to call the police and she told me that was not her job," Goetz said.

Borough police were subsequently no­tified of the incident by Goetz, who asked board members on more than one occa­sion, "Why weren’t the police called? Why did I have to call them myself?"

Board members did not respond to that question.

Goetz said when she got to the school she found her son in the nurse’s office, ly­ing down, bleeding and badly beaten about the head.

Officer Ronnie Steppat responded to the call. The officer told the News Tran­script that after observing the child lying on the nurse’s bed with an ice pack over his face, he told Goetz he would take her statement later. He said he was more con­cerned about the welfare of the child and his well-being and getting him medi­cal attention. Steppat said he told Goetz to take her son to the hospital right away, and she did.

Goetz said doctors later determined he had suffered a concussion. She told board members she thought that the medical at­tention provided by the school was inade­quate.

"I find the protocol directly after this incident negligent," she said. "I maintain that my son’s civil rights were blatantly violated. I believe there was a clear ob­struction of justice. I believe the policies and procedures established by this board have all the right intentions; however, the man we have in charge to enforce them does not. What is this board waiting for?"

Board President Peter DeFonzo said the board members are concerned about the incidents that occur in the school.

When asked why Jackson did not no­tify police immediately after the incident in the classroom, DeFonzo said, "Mr. Jackson was with the (injured) child. His first priority was to separate the children and then tend to the care of the injured child. By the time he had returned to his office, he found that the police had al­ready arrived."

Sue Scalgione, the registered nurse who is the school nurse for the Park Av­enue Elementary School and the Freehold Intermediate School, told the News Tran­script she was very upset about what had transpired. She gave the following account of the May 20 incident.

"I was in my office when two young­sters came in quite upset, telling me to come quickly because there had been a fight. I grabbed my gloves and my cart and ran to follow them to wherever the fight had taken place. On my way I saw Mr. Jackson walking with the injured stu­dent toward my office," she said.

Scalgione said her first act was to as­sess the child for injuries. She said her initial assessment revealed that he had sustained a laceration over his right ear. She put a pressure dressing over the wound and applied an ice pack to prevent swelling.

She then checked the boy’s neurologi­cal signs, which included checking his eyes, his walk and his orientation to time, place and person. She established that there appeared to have been no signs of loss of consciousness. She said his gait was normal and he did not complain of any nausea or dizziness.

"All of his signs were normal. He was perfectly coherent and was able to give me his mom’s phone number at work," Scal­gione said.

After taking the child to her office, Scalgione contacted his mother. She said she remained vigilant about observing his neurological signs, which remained nor­mal with no neurological deficits — the child experienced no dizziness and no vomiting, according to the nurse.

When asked why she didn’t call an ambulance for the child, Scalgione said it was not indicated medically in this case.

Scalgione said she based her assess­ment and decision on her 15 years of emergency room nursing. She said her qualifications, including Advanced Car­diac Life Support and Pediatric Advanced Life Support, qualified her to make an ap­propriate decision as to the medical as­sessment of the child’s injuries.

The child was subsequently taken by wheelchair to Goetz’s car. Scalgione said she called CentraState Medical Center, Freehold Township, to give a detailed re­port of the student’s medical condition be­fore he was taken to the hospital.

Kalafat said that in her opinion, "If one child gets hurt that’s one too many. The standard is that no child gets hurt — ever. It is the principal’s job to protect that sys­tem."

According to Kalafat, this system in­cludes scheduling, supervision and staffing.

"If there is a problem with a shortage of staffing, I would expect a principal to come to me and ask me for more staff," she said.

Jackson did not respond to telephone messages left by the News Transcript.