Parents outspoken about bullying at Claremore Public Schools
CLAREMORE, Okla. (KTUL) — It started with a Facebook post and hundreds of comments detailing bullying at Claremore Public Schools.
Reaching out to those parents, grandparents, and guardians, this is an issue that has been going on for years.
Many of the parents chose not to go on camera for fear it could cause more bullying for their children.
One mother said her son has been verbally bullied for months and was recently jumped by two students.
Another mother said her daughter was purposefully tripped resulting in broken bones and surgery along with expensive hospital bills.
And Sonja Kapchinsky says her daughter was bullied to the point she needed to be pulled from school.
“I don’t think they took it serious at all, hurt and powerless because you try to do something to help your child, and there was no action taken," said Kapchinsky
An uncle, who made the original Facebook post, says his nephew is afraid to go to school because of the bullying.
NewsChannel 8 took these concerns to Superintendent Bryan Frazier.
“What is it like when you see parents, current students, former students, saying those things about the school," Frazier was asked.
“Honestly, it’s difficult. It’s difficult to hear," he said.
The district has an anonymous tip line where parents can report any incident.
Frazier says they investigate every report of bullying.
He feels some parents may think nothing is done because the district isn’t allowed to say what disciplinary action was taken.
“So sometimes people don’t know what that discipline was, or if there was discipline, so sometimes, they may assume nothing had been done," said Frazier.
He says if parents have an issue with bullying in the district, they can come to him directly.
“The realization is does bullying exist, 100% absolutely it does, but we are trying to create a culture where it’s not okay," said Frazier.
He says they’ve partnered with ABLE to help stop vaping and they’re speaking with the district attorney about giving out tickets to students involved in fights, something he hopes will cut down on those too.
