'A Moment For Change': Peabody Parents Call For Urgent Action Against School Bullying

PEABODY, MA — Dozens of Peabody parents — including friends and family members of Higgins Middle School eighth-grader Jason Bernard, whose family said he committed suicide last month after suffering ongoing bullying — made emotional pleas for urgent change on Tuesday night during a School Committee discussion on bullying policy and procedures.

Superintendent Josh Vadala presented several professional development, incident reporting and intervention protocols when it comes to bullying. But many of those who spoke charged the district with being too reactive to a crisis that has been a painful reality for many students in Peabody for a very long time.

"This is not a moment for comfort," said Ashley Doucette, founder of the Facebook group called Peabody MA Parents Against Bullying. "This is a moment for change."

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Vadala said bullying reports are tracked in the district with 42 online reports of student bullying in 2023, 51 in 2024 and 57 through June 1 in the 2024-25 school year. He said there were four accusations of staff bullying of students but that none of those were deemed "substantiated." He said data on "substantiated" student bullying was not immediately available.

"I can't talk about this without acknowledging the tragic loss of Jason Bernard and what his family is going through," Vadala said. "Understanding that there is much work to be done to heal as a community. And the need to really come together as a community and really make some relevant change.

"I would encourage everybody to be part of that positive change that we need."

Vadala welcomed anyone who is concerned about bullying to contact him and see him at his office.

But one speaker after another painted a more critical picture of bullying accusations that they said receive little or no response from school staff, with repeated complaints that the allegations are then too often turned back on the victims to either be removed from the situation or to better learn to deal with the challenges.

Kendra Patterson, the last speaker of the nearly 90-minute presentation and discussion, said that the family of the late student was still being bullied by those accused of tormenting Bernard.

"This Board, the School Committee, the people that I am looking at here, have the power to do something about that," she said. "That is unacceptable. It is disgusting. It is deplorable.

"And something needs to be done now."

Vadala said a community forum on bullying is still in the planning stages and a task force against bullying is being formed. The Peabody Health Department is also launching a student Mental Health Center based out of Higgins Middle School.

While speakers acknowledged that the schools responded with heartfelt statements the weekend of Bernard's death, and had counselors at the middle school that Monday, there were criticisms that the schools should have been open for students that Sunday when word had already spread rapidly and that there needed to be more ongoing support for students rather than a perceived desire to get back to the daily structure of school throughout that devastating week.

"This is the worst possible thing that could have happened — to lose someone," School Committee member Beverley Ann Griffin Dunne said. "Bullying has been a problem in society for years. It is very difficult to deal with it in the schools. But, obviously, we are going to look at everything we do and try to make it better because we want our children to be safe. We want to make sure that they can come to school and feel secure.

"And knowing the bullying goes on in so many places, this is one of the places that we have to work with — the schools."

Vadala allowed that the policies and procedures in place are only as good as the ability of parents, students, staff and families to navigate them.

"There is much work to be done," Vadala said. "As a school system and as a community, we need to do a really good job with our families and we really need to work together. This is going to be a long-term discussion and we really want to involve as many people as possible."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)