Protest Over North Penn Leadership Held After Middle School Beating

LANSDALE, PA — Hordes of protesters gathered in Lansdale on Tuesday to demonstrate against what they say are the failings of the North Penn School District to adequately protect students in the wake of a brutal attack on a middle schooler last week.

Protesters, which both students and parents, stood before the North Penn Educational Service Building on 401 E. Hancock Street to call for change.

The community says that the district was warned by students that the attack, which left a seventh grade girl hospitalized after she was repeatedly beaten with a large metal Stanley cup, was imminent and that students were in danger.

"I know exactly how our district handles violence and bullies," one parent of a current Gwyn Nor student wrote in an email to the district and then shared on social media. "There wasn't a grade that I was not tormented in and the staff honestly did not care one bit. I would not have survived the halls in our district without my friends. The adults failed me, and literal children had to pick up the slack."

Protesters at the event called for additional safety steps, more transparency from the district on the findings of their investigation, accountability for staff, and a change in district leadership.

Related: Protective Order Issued To Shield North Penn Middle School Attacker

Members of the public also flocked to a school board meeting last Thursday night, taking to the public comment section to lambast district leadership. Multiple parents said the district was aware of the danger posed by the attacking student, claiming that there were "hit lists" and plans for physical assaults and that the district could have done more to intervene.

"I just don't know how that went unchecked," said a woman who identified herself as Stephanie, a parent of a Pennbrook student. "How this child was able to remain in school...(if something was done) maybe this poor little girl wouldn't be sitting at home, traumatized."

Related: Parents Outraged After Unprovoked North Penn Attack

The district announced a series of steps in the short term that has done little to assuage the community. A third party investigator has been hired to "examine the totality" of the attack and come back to the district with an analysis and recommendations. Superintendent Todd Bauer added that there will be a school safety forum, involving community and local experts, to help North Penn improve the safety programs and measures already in place.

The district also said that police will making more regular visits to North Penn buildings, and that the school was already working with the county to review its safety protocols.

A Safe Schools Committee meeting address the incident on Monday, April 29 at 5:45 p.m. The public is invited to attend the meeting.