INDIANAPOLIS — Some parents are preparing to pull their kids out of IPS School 87 over safety concerns after a lawsuit alleges a teacher at the school encouraged attacks on a second grader.
"It’s heartbreaking to have to make the decision to leave or wonder if your kid will be safe,” said Megan Kriebel, who has three daughters at the school.
Kriebel has been filled with hurt and frustration for days as she now prepares to switch her kids from the only school they’ve ever attended and love.
"It's been the only school that they've known. I put in countless volunteer hours. I sub there once a week. I care about the teachers that are there, but so many of them are leaving and their concerns are going unheard," she said.
The tough decision comes after a teacher at the Montessori school was accused of encouraging students to fight another 7-year-old classmate all while the teacher allegedly recorded it.
IMPD is now investigating the allegations in the lawsuit filed by the student's family. It names the teacher, IPS, the district superintendent, other school staff and leaders.
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"It's a very disheartening thing to see. I feel strongly that it's a huge sort of betrayal of trust,” said another School 87 Parent Ashley Watters.
Neither parent’s children were in the teacher’s class, however they both are upset.
Watters’ kids also attended since they started.
She volunteers consistently at the school and said she's had positive experiences with several teachers.
However, she's among other parents who feel like they've been left in the dark about this situation.
"I don't recall hearing anything about the incident, prior [to Wednesday after seeing a video of the incident on the news],” she said.
Kriebel also said she feels parents' concerns have gone unheard by administration long before this incident.
“This was so preventable. There were other parents that raised concerns about this classroom, and I know that because there were families that left the school after they raised concerns and felt like issues were not dealt with," she said.
MORE | Teacher allowed other students to attack 7-year-old classmate, lawsuit claims (wrtv.com)
Neither parent wants to pull their kids out of school with just weeks left this school year, however they're not comfortable sending their kids to the school next year.
So, that meant they were left scrambling to find another option before the deadline on April 19 to enter a lottery to switch to different schools for the upcoming year.
Watters said she only found out about the deadline on Thursday, a day before it was set to expire.
"I sat down with my family, and we determined we randomly chose schools we heard good things about because we didn’t have time to do proper research,” she said.
She was afraid she’d be stuck with no other options but staying at School 87.
The parents told WRTV they want clear communication from the school when it comes to safety concerns and to be notified right away when incidents happen.
"I think there needs to be concrete steps taken for when a parent raises concern about their child’s safety,” explained Kriebel. “Without knowing how something like this could be prevented. I cannot risk my kids’ safety."
Several parents said they plan to attend the District’s Board Meetingnext Thursday, April 25, to bring up their concerns.
We reached out to IPS about these parents' specific concerns but have not received a response.
A statement shared earlier this week said:
IPS does not tolerate the type of behavior alleged in the complaint and takes reports of potential abuse and neglect seriously. When IPS learned of the teacher’s conduct, the Department of Child Services (DCS) was immediately notified, and the teacher was removed from the classroom and suspended. The teacher had no further contact with students and is no longer employed by IPS.Because this matter is the subject of pending litigation, it is inappropriate to comment further on our investigation of this matter.
- IPS was not aware of any fights encouraged or sanctioned by this or any other teacher from the student’s parents or otherwise, until the parent emailed the principal at 6:58 p.m. Oct. 30.
- The principal first viewed this email early morning the next day (Oct 31), and immediately contacted DCS and IPS Human Resources.
- The teacher was immediately removed from the building and never returned to the classroom.
- The teacher was interviewed by Human Resources on November 2 as part of its investigation into the matter. The employee resigned during that meeting before IPS could initiate termination proceedings, which the district was prepared to do based on the information received from the internal investigation.
