Parent Says Bullying On Shrewsbury Soccer Team Wasn't Properly Investigated

SHREWSBURY, MA — A Shrewsbury High School parent is raising alarms about an investigation into bullying and hazing on the girls' varsity soccer team, saying the district failed to follow its own policies and procedures to protect students from harassment.

According to the parent, her daughter and other players were bullied and hazed by team captains and the head coach during the fall 2023 season. The harassment included comments about the weights and intelligence of individual players, letting the captains establish a team "pecking order," and one incident where players were told they had to buy condoms and kiss male classmates as part of a scavenger hunt.

After asking school officials to investigate, the parent said the athletic director only interviewed the two captains, failing to interview the victim or other coaches and members of the team. The parent made an initial complaint to the head coach in early October 2023, and the investigation took until the end of January 2024 to conclude.

The investigation failed to follow the district's policy, the parent said, leading her to ask the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to conduct an inquiry. According to the Shrewsbury policy, initial bullying complaints are supposed to be recorded, be reported to "the principal or designee" in the school and the creation a safety plan for the victim, according to the policy.

The initial complaint, in fact, made the situation worse, prompting the coach to clarify the team's hierarchy.

"The coach told them, 'I’m on the top, the captains come after me and all the rest of you are at the bottom,'" the parent said.

"From the time I reported it to the coach to the time they opened an actual investigation, it was 16 to 17 weeks. They didn’t follow the process," the parent said. The parent has been granted anonymity to protect her daughter's identity.

In response to the parent's concerns, top school officials say they may soon make changes to the district's bullying policy, which was last updated in 2019, according to the district website.

"The district takes the issue of bullying seriously. In terms of the district’s anti-bullying policy, the district plans to review it and make recommendations for any updates to the school committee this fall. Soliciting input from families will be part of that process," Superintendent Joe Sawyer said last week, also speaking on behalf of Shrewsbury School Committee Chair Jon Wensky.

Sawyer said he could not comment on specific bullying allegations.

"I can share that generally, when an investigation of a bullying allegation is conducted, the school administration makes a determination as to whether the evidence supports the allegations and shares their conclusion with the alleged target and the alleged aggressor(s) and their families," he said.

Documents provided by the parent show that a second investigation was conducted between January and March by Shrewsbury High School assistant principals Nga Hyunh and Maureen Monopoli. After 20 interviews, the principals determined that what happened was "not bullying," according to the documents, and that several allegations were unfounded, including the exclusion of a player from a team dinner, and the captains unjustly yelling at the bullying victim.

The investigation did find that the athletic director's investigation should have been more thorough, including interviewing the victim, and should have been shared with the parents sooner.

The two captains accused of bullying have since graduated, and the coach stepped down after the conclusion of the 2023 season. But the ordeal has left the student with no trust in school officials, the parent said. She decided not to play soccer this school year.

The parent feels the district should apologize to her daughter, and agrees the district should take a fresh look at the bullying policy — so other students don't potentially fall through the cracks. The DESE investigation is still pending.

"Somebody needs to be held accountable for the numerous people who dropped the ball," the parent said.