Park City School District has a zero tolerance policy for bullying, discrimination, hate, bias, or retaliation. That's the board of education's message after the viral video of an assault last week at the Treasure Mountain Middle School.
Park City Board of Education President Erin Grady said the ongoing investigation makes it impossible to discuss specific details of the assault captured on video last Thursday. She said the safe schools policy outlines consequences which she can’t discuss until the investigation finishes.
Sources told KPCW the altercation resulted from a racial/ethnic slur involving an Asian teacher. Grady said she had not received specific information about that. She commented to KPCW on behalf of the Board of Education.
"No matter what, [the board] stands against discrimination and hate against people in all realms and we 100% stand with our Asian American community. Moving forward, if people have incidents of bias against anyone within the district, it does have zero tolerance. So, if you are a victim, or a witness, to a bias or incident, we encourage you and want you to report the incident, whether online or coming to the district or someone in administration, immediately. And you know this is not just a school issue. This is a community issue. So, we have to work together with this one as a community and make sure that we have an inclusive learning and working environment in our district and our community."
Grady said she doesn’t know if any students had witnessed bullying or heard ethnic slurs or whether the administration received complaints before the incident.
The video, shot by students and shared on Snapchat, shows other students present.
"I cannot talk about the video at all. It is part of the investigation--the ongoing investigation. So, I cannot."
Grady said the school district's zero-tolerance policy addresses gang activity and weapons in school. When asked if the incident was gang-related, she replied:
"I can say that there is no evidence or any reason for us as a district to believe that that is the manner. And again, that there's been no evidence of any weapons which again falls under the Safe Schools and is, again, a zero-tolerance."
On Friday, Treasure Mountain Junior High School Principal Caleb Fine sent a video statement to the school community.
"Swift action was taken to address the situation. I am happy to report that there was a teacher and a staff member working with the student within one minute and all students involved were in the office within 90 seconds of the incident taking place. Fortunately, no staff members or students were injured during the incident."
Grady said injuries can take varied forms.
So, I can't speak on behalf of the parents. I can tell you that there was no medical attention needed, from what I understand, that happened from the incident. But I would say, I think, of course, I'm a parent, and I can't imagine the emotional impact that this has on a child or other children as well."
The school district is providing additional counseling as a follow-up. Grady said students, faculty, and parents can contact the counseling office, a trusted teacher, or anyone at the district for support.
She said those involved in circulating the video are also under investigation because the act of furthering disruption using social media is a violation of the safe school’s policy.
"It is a part of the investigation, so I can't comment a whole lot on it. But again, we have policies for our social media, and it also goes back to our policies for safe schools and for anti-bullying. So, we fall back in all of that. But yes, there are consequences, and those are under investigation as well."
As KPCW reported earlier, the school board sent a letter to the community Sunday night. You can find the letter on KPCW.org.
