Mohawk mom: Son bullied by gay student suing district

On Tuesday morning, Tamara Hendrick had to pick up her son an hour after dropping him off at Gregory B. Jarvis Junior/Senior High School.

The reason: She said her son is being accused of harassing the gay 14-year-old student who has filed a lawsuit against the school district alleging officials failed to protect him.

Hendrick said she has been told her son faces a six-month suspension for allegedly harassing Jacob, whose last name is not being released.

But Hendrick, who would not identify her son, said the harassment has gone the other way.

“This boy has told my son that he loves him, that they should go out and that he wished my son’s family dead,” she said. “They had a few verbal altercations last year, and my son was punched in the face by this other student. The only one who has been physical has been this other student.”

In a statement released Tuesday morning, Superintendent Joyce Caputo said district officials were prohibited from talking about student discipline.

“The Mohawk Central School District Code of Student Conduct prohibits harassing behavior and has been enforced appropriately through student due process hearings,” Caputo said in the statement.

Jacob has said he has endured escalating harassment the past two years for his sexual orientation and for not conforming to masculine stereotypes.

He filed a federal lawsuit Aug. 19 through the New York Civil Liberties Union claiming the district failed to protect him from vicious and relentless harassment, threats and physical abuse at school.

The NYCLU issued a brief statement on the subject Tuesday afternoon.

“Most importantly, Jacob had a very good, safe first day of school today,” said Corey Stoughton, NYCLU senior staff attorney and lead counsel on the case. “With respect to this suspension, we don’t know any details about why this student was disciplined or any due process he and his family were provided. However, schools have a responsibility to discipline students who harass and threaten other students.”

Less than two weeks ago, the New York Civil Liberties Union announced that the school district had agreed to meet the lawsuit’s request for emergency relief to provide for the ninth-grader’s safety.

The agreement, which was approved by a federal judge, is sealed, so the school district and NYCLU have not release specific details about it. Neither party would say whether Hendrick’s son’s suspension was a part of that agreement.

Hendrick said her son was suspended for five days at the end of the last school year, but then allowed to return to school. She met with district officials over the summer, but wasn’t told until Thursday that her son was not to attend the first day of school and that he faces the six-month suspension.

She said the final decision on the suspension has not been made, so she decided to send her son to class Tuesday anyway. She was called at 9:15 a.m. and told to pick him up.

She said the district is now unfairly targeting her son.

“The district is throwing my son under the bus because they’re facing a lawsuit,” Hendrick said.

Hendrick said she knows her son has said things to Jacob.

“My son hasn’t been perfect, but what 14-year-old has,” she said. “But six months because of my son’s words – back to the other child – in response to the other child. My son has been embarrassed and harassed by this student and his friends. … When he has spoken up about it, he has been told to be quiet because of the student’s sexual orientation.”

Hendrick said she has been talking with an attorney about the issue, but declined to release his name. She said she does not know if she will file a claim but said she will do “what I need to to make sure my son gets an education.”

She said she has been told her son will have to attend an after-school program for his education for the next six months.

Caputo said the district does offer an after-school “twilight program” for students who are being disciplined.