A second student has stepped forward and is alleging that he was harassed while at Harper Junior High School in Davis. The family is protecting their name in order to shield the student from the type of scrutiny that has befallen the Fischer family.
In a statement released by Attorney Bruce Nickerson who is also representing the Fischers:
One of the students involved in the harassment of Zachary Fischer was involved in this incident. In fact, he was the student who harassed Fischer in the first incident and then upon Fischer's return to school which prompted the father to finally pull him out of school.
I find two other disturbing aspects about this incident.
The school district was informed about this incident after the eighth-grader was attacked by four students who threw him to the ground and robbed him of personal items. They beat him up badly enough that paramedics were called and medical attention was required.
The district supposedly then conducted an investigation but found no witnesses to the event. One must question how hard the district investigated because it turns out Zach Fischer witnessed the event and saw most of the incident. Yet he was never contacted by the district during the course of their investigation.
The family wants to protect their identity and the identity of their son. Information is difficult to obtain about this incident; however, the alarming aspect once again is not just that the incident itself occurred, which is alarming in itself, but the pattern that is emerging with the district not properly handling the incident in terms of their investigation and ability to prevent future incidents. The community needs to look long and hard about how they want government officials to respond to attacks that put students in need of medical attention. It seems to me that the system is currently failing to adequately protect our students.
The other day we mentioned a member of the public who wrote a letter to the Davis Enterprise complaining that the Fischer's $100,000 lawsuit would hurt other kids by taking away resources that would otherwise go to the classroom. I think if anything it will help other kids if it forces the school district to protect their safety.
---Doug Paul Davis reporting
In a statement released by Attorney Bruce Nickerson who is also representing the Fischers:
"It's a case of anti-gay harassment. It's not based on parental orientation, but on the young man's perceived orientation."The student is reportedly small and therefore perceived to be gay.
One of the students involved in the harassment of Zachary Fischer was involved in this incident. In fact, he was the student who harassed Fischer in the first incident and then upon Fischer's return to school which prompted the father to finally pull him out of school.
I find two other disturbing aspects about this incident.
The school district was informed about this incident after the eighth-grader was attacked by four students who threw him to the ground and robbed him of personal items. They beat him up badly enough that paramedics were called and medical attention was required.
The district supposedly then conducted an investigation but found no witnesses to the event. One must question how hard the district investigated because it turns out Zach Fischer witnessed the event and saw most of the incident. Yet he was never contacted by the district during the course of their investigation.
The family wants to protect their identity and the identity of their son. Information is difficult to obtain about this incident; however, the alarming aspect once again is not just that the incident itself occurred, which is alarming in itself, but the pattern that is emerging with the district not properly handling the incident in terms of their investigation and ability to prevent future incidents. The community needs to look long and hard about how they want government officials to respond to attacks that put students in need of medical attention. It seems to me that the system is currently failing to adequately protect our students.
The other day we mentioned a member of the public who wrote a letter to the Davis Enterprise complaining that the Fischer's $100,000 lawsuit would hurt other kids by taking away resources that would otherwise go to the classroom. I think if anything it will help other kids if it forces the school district to protect their safety.
---Doug Paul Davis reporting
