NASHUA – Two weeks after Fairgrounds Middle School parent Chad LaCrosse shared videos showing his daughter being repeatedly hit by another female student in the face while at the school, Nashua Board of Education members continue debating how to address the matter.

Board of Education member Doris Hohensee said school officials are more concerned about the possible danger associated with air rifles than they are about the real assaults taking place at Fairgrounds.

“We can have high school kids come in here and worry about air rifles and get them pushed out of practicing on campus over the potential danger – and we had a very real assault on one of our campuses and we’re just not going to do anything right now,” Hohensee said during the Wednesday meeting.

Earlier this year, board members responded to dozens of students, parents and others expressing their “fear” of guns in schools to reject a JROTC air rifle course near Nashua High School North. Members eventually agreed to allow the program to take place at the Horse Pond Fish and Game Club.

Prompted by the recent events at Fairgrounds, Hohensee submitted an emergency policy change that would have amended board policy JIC, relative to Student Behavior Standards. However, it ultimately failed with a 1-7 vote during the meeting.

Hohensee proposed that a new class offense “IA” be added. Currently the district uses three classes, minor, moderate and severe, to determine disciplinary response.

Hohensee’s proposed Class IA, which she wanted added to the policy’s list outlining student offense and general disciplinary responses reads, “Indisputable physical violence or assault by a student directed against another student, or staff member, with corroborating evidence, such as but not limited to video recordings.”

“I think out of respect for the nature of this problem and what we’ve seen recently, I’m hoping the board will take this seriously,” Hohensee said after discussing her emergency change suggestion

Despite this, board members were unsure if it called for an “emergency designation.”

“I think we can make positive changes, but I don’t think this is an emergency,” board member Ray Guarino said.

Board member Howard Coffman said he believed the parents’ voices during the meeting expressed urgency. He suggested conducting a special board meeting to discuss the matter further and to invite parents to participate in the conversation.

Board member William Mosher said if anything were to be done, it would need to be done with a “cool mind and cool head.”

“We can’t operate under an emergency or something that presses us because then, we make mistakes,” Mosher said.

Board member Elizabeth Van Twuyver said the matter should be considered by the board’s Policy Committee.

“If you want to make this a Class 1 event or whatever, that might be the solution. Right now, there is a ruling. There is a policy that principals should be invoking and I’m telling you half the time, we got them but they don’t invoke them, so I think it should go back to policy,” Van Twuyver said.

She later added that just because something is on paper doesn’t mean the students will feel safer.

Board President Heather Raymond said board members ought to use their emergency “powers” carefully.

“At this point, we have a policy – we have no evidence that that policy has not been followed,” Raymond said. “One of the issues with a situation like bullying or altercations at school is that student privacy laws prevent the district and us from sharing what the bully’s consequence was. The perpetrator is a child and has certain rights and one of those rights is that the punishment not be disclosed.”

Raymond said assumptions can be made when there is a lack of information.

Superintendent Jahmal Mosley also spoke on the matter.

“There is an active investigation going on right now and to make a proposal, to have an emergency modification to a policy without any type of information or any type of data, would be premature,” Mosley said.

“I’m very upset with what happened tonight,” Hohensee said after the board rejected her motion. “Once again, I put something on the agenda and we played with the technicality.”

After an 8-0 vote on a separate motion made by Coffman, it was decided that the board’s policy committee will look into the matter during their Dec. 3 meeting.

Grace Pecci may be reached at 594-1243, or at gpecci@nashuatelegraph.com.

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