UES School Didn't Tell Parents About Racist Bullying, Report Says

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — The mother of an Upper East Side public school student are accusing school officials of withholding information about her son's racist tormentor, according to reports.

Parents of an 11-year-old student at Robert F. Wagner Middle School told the New York Post that they weren't notified when a student in their son's class tied a string around his neck and said "this is what your ancestors went through." The incident happened on March 8 and the boy's mother, Allyson Davis, first heard about it three days later when her daughter told her, according to the report.

When Davis called the school's assistant principal, Lindsay Oakes, the school official confirmed that a teacher witnessed the bullying, the Post reported. Davis' son is the only black student in his sixth grade class at Robert F. Wagner, which is located on East 76th Street between Second and Third avenues, according to the report.

The mother told the Post she suspects the school attempted to sweep the incident "under the rug."

Davis and her husband made the decision to keep their son out of school because school officials said the bully cannot be switched out of their son's class.

A report published by City Comptroller Scott Stringer in 2018 showed that bullying is more widespread in New York City Schools than ever before. A record 82 percent of sixth- through 12th-graders said bullying happened in their schools during the previous school year.

Patch's inquiry to a city Department of Education spokeswoman was not immediately returned. This article will be updated if the DOE responds.

Read the full NY Post article here.