7 Investigates: Students and parents say school ‘f…



“I’m scared to go back to school,” began the statement that one seventh grade student wrote to Melrose Veterans Memorial Middle School.

The statement came after she suffered months of bullying.

“I do not feel safe. My legs feel like jello. I do not trust anybody,” the student told school officials in a document obtained by 7 Investigates.

Steve and Cheri said it was very hard to watch their daughter experience this and feel helpless.

“It’s extremely heartbreaking to the parents,” Steve admitted.

They told 7 Investigates that they reported their daughter’s bullying to the school for months during the 2022-23 school year. Steve and Cheri said school officials did little to address it.

“They would make fun of her in the cafeteria, hold fist punches up to her, poke her in the hallway, say things to her… write stuff in the bathrooms,” Cheri recalled.

The constant incidents turned their daughter fearful and withdrawn.

“When it’s consistent and there’s no discipline with it, it’s very hard to just sit back and do nothing,” the Melrose parents said.

Looking for action, they decided to file a complaint with the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). That complaint spurred an investigation that found Melrose Public Schools failed to comply with state law and its bullying prevention plan “by failing to promptly investigate allegations of bullying.” The district was ordered to provide training to its middle school staff.

The Melrose district investigated and confirmed the incidents were classified as bullying. School officials created a safety plan that included keeping the bully away from their daughter.

Based on this promise, their daughter returned to class for the 2023-24 school year.

However, Steve and Cheri said the plan failed to keep the bully from bothering their daughter at lunch and in the hallways.

“The second day of school and they failed to keep her away from the bully,” Cheri…




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