Is bullying ignored at Coast middle school? Parents say it’s bigger than a yearbook
When Pamela Lady opened Facebook and saw the pictures of the Hancock Middle School yearbook, she started bawling.
Her own 12-year-old daughter had left the middle school at the end of 2020 because of cruelty that got so bad she sought counseling. For more than a year before that, Lady felt teachers and administrators had dismissed her every time she asked them for help.
During repeated trips to the school, she was always told Principal Jessica Taylor wasn’t available to talk with her. Lady said one counselor at the school told her kids often exaggerate, and she shouldn’t believe everything her daughter told her.
But the yearbook was in print, for everyone to see, with kids answering questions like, “Which friend would you not invite on spring break?”
“For the first time I felt like the things that she was experiencing, and my going to the school and reporting and it being brushed under the rug — it felt like I was validated, this actually did happen, and you can’t ignore it anymore,” Lady said.
Lady’s daughter now attends a nearby private school, where she is thriving. She joined the archery team and even ran for a student council position. But Lady is worried about other kids.
She’s one of just under 440 Hancock alumni and parents, as of Friday morning, who have signed a petition calling for an independent audit of how the district, particularly the middle school, handles reports of bullying, harassment and discrimination. The petition also asks the school board and new superintendent, who will be named soon, to develop a plan to address the issues.
The petition’s author and signatories say the district’s problems are much deeper than the middle school yearbook that made national news.
Petition author Trevor Ladner, a 2016 Hancock High graduate who is now a teacher in Massachusetts, said that when he saw the pictures of the yearbook circulating on Facebook, it took him back to his own experiences in the district. As a queer student, he said, he frequently experienced homophobic slurs; members of the baseball team often called him “f----t” in the hallway. When he asked for help, an assistant principal told him, “Kids will be kids,” he said.
As of Friday morning, Ladner has also collected stories about bullying and harassment in the district from 48 students, alumni, parents and even a former teacher. He plans to submit them to the superintendent and school board members.
“Receiving those stories has been really emotional,” he said. ”I’ve been reliving my own trauma. The scope of the negligence that students are experiencing, it’s just very heartbreaking to someone who experienced it myself and who is now an educator.”
One of the most striking aspects of the stories, he said, is how many of them describe suicidal ideation. Ladner and other community members say the bullying concerns are particularly troubling in Hancock County because, from 1999 to 2014, it had the highest suicide rate of any county in Mississippi.
Silence from the school district
Since Monday, the district has been publicly silent on the yearbook issue. Their statement Monday said the district was “aware of the unfortunate fact that the Hancock Middle School (HMS) 2020-2021 Yearbook contains sensitive and inappropriate comments from some of our students.”
“The yearbook is student led, student published and has, in the past, been an award winning yearbook,” the statement said. “The yearbook is, however, sponsor and administrator supervised; this yearbook should not have included the sensitive and inappropriate comments. Hancock Middle School has already taken measures to ensure that this never happens again.”
The district has not explained what those measures are.
On Thursday, Hancock Middle School Principal Dr. Jessica Taylor told the Sun Herald that she had been advised to direct all callers to the district office. When the Sun Herald visited the school, Taylor was in a meeting.
The Sun Herald left messages with the office of Superintendent Alan Dedeaux and public relations administrator Joan Seals. A reporter also emailed every member of the school board; one said she planned to answer questions over email by the end of the day Thursday.
A refund for ‘inappropriate’ yearbooks
On Tuesday, middle school parents received an email explaining how to get a refund for the yearbook.
“We are aware of the unfortunate fact that the Hancock Middle School 2021 Yearbook contains sensitive and inappropriate comments,” the email said. “Hancock Middle School has already taken measures to ensure this never happens again. The Hancock County School District apologizes for this unfortunate situation.”
The email said the yearbook could be returned to the school on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday and that families will receive a check in the mail later.
At Hancock Middle School on Thursday, banners advertising the yearbook were still hanging in the hallways. A sign explaining how to order the yearbook urged families to “Capture the memories of this historic year.”
“STAY ROOTED IN HOPE. OPTIMISM. LOVE.,” were printed in bold letters.
An office employee said that by early afternoon Thursday, no one had come to claim a refund.
But some parents dropping by the school for other reasons said they were not pleased with the district’s handling of the situation, especially the statement’s claim that the yearbook is “student led, student published.”
“As far as students being responsible — no, they’re kids,” said Kevin Stewart, whose daughter was on the yearbook committee. “As an adult in a position of higher authority, you should be held to a different level.”
He said she had to interview for the position. His family also bought one of the yearbooks, for $45. But they hadn’t discussed the controversy over the last few days.
A mother named Jessica, who didn’t want to give her last name because she feared potential backlash against her son, said they had discussed whether to return the yearbook. Ultimately, her son decided against it because no one he knew personally was targeted by the derogatory questions and answers, and because he liked the pictures of him and his friends.
And that was important to Jessica because he is now doing well after a very difficult year.
“I got no help whatsoever except a phone call from the school that my child was contemplating killing himself,” she said.
She said the counselor called her after her son had been bullied in a group text message over winter break, where other students told him his “hair was ugly” and he “needed to kill himself.”
The counselor wouldn’t tell her which other students were involved, citing privacy concerns, and as far as she knows, the parents of other students were never contacted. She wasn’t totally surprised, because her daughter, who is now in high school, had also been bullied.
“Nothing ever gets done,” she said.
Stewart said he didn’t expect anyone in school leadership would be held responsible.
“You’re in Hancock County,” he said. “Everybody is kin to everybody.”
Questions for a new superintendent
The discussions about bullying come as the school board is set to select a new superintendent to replace longtime district leader Alan Dedeaux, who is retiring.
The finalists for the position have not been announced. The school board appointed the Mississippi School Board Association superintendent search service to handle the solicitation and initial screening of applicants.
On Thursday, attorney George Scanlon Blair sent the school board a letter requesting that the new superintendent not be selected from the administration of Hancock Middle School.
“On behalf of everyone that has reached out to me over the years, potential clients with the recent incident(s), this Firm and I, a resident of Hancock County, Ms., am personally requesting that this be investigated, administration be replaced, and the soon to be appointed Superintendent not be allowed to be anyone from the Hancock County Middle School’s Administration,” he wrote.
According to the district’s calendar of events, the board will hold a recess meeting from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, May 29. The agenda includes Executive Session to discuss “personnel matters.”
There is no public comment period listed on the agenda.
This story was originally published May 28, 2021 at 5:50 AM.
