MILL CREEK, Wash. — The mother of a middle school student is demanding answers after officials say a school counselor failed to act when her son was bullied.
Macy Cortez and her family moved to Mill Creek in March. Her 13-year-old son began attending Heatherwood Middle School by the end of the month.
Not long after, the 7th grader received a disturbing letter in his locker.
"It said 'you need to kill yourself. We hate you, you're a show off. You're a f*****, you don't belong in this world. Just kill yourself,'" Cortez said.
The teen says he told a school counselor about the letter. In the several weeks that followed, the bullying turned violent, officials said. Cortez' son finally told her about the letter, fearing he was being beaten because he didn't follow through with what the letter told him to do.
"I know kids can be mean but when he came home, beaten up and told me about the story, that hurt. What if he would have done it?" she said.
Cortez met with the principal of Heatherwood Middle School who was unaware of the situation with the counselor.
"When he requested that letter from the counselor, the counselor lost the letter," she said.
Everett Public Schools said the counselor did not follow standard protocol when he didn't let anyone else know about the note.
"He's a counselor to other children and if he didn't take a suicide topic seriously, he won't take anything else seriously. That's the way I see it," Cortez said.
Everett Public Schools says student safety is a No. 1 priority, adding that they take each and every bullying concern very seriously.
The school district sent KIRO 7 this statement regarding Cortez' son:
"We take great pride in our work to promote inclusivity and community in our schools. Schools work to create positive school cultures where students value and respect each other. We teach students about harassment, intimidation and bullying through our curriculum and classroom conversations, review of policies and procedures, and daily work. Once we learn of an issue, we immediately address it, and importantly, we use it as an opportunity to improve our practices."
Last Thursday, a parent and student met with the school’s assistant principal to report that the student had been punched during PE class the day before. An investigation was immediately launched, and the assistant principal worked to gather additional information. During that meeting, two additional incidents were also shared. The school’s administrative team is looking into the student’s reported concerns and how it was handled by a staff member; corrective action will be taken where warranted.
Since Thursday, the school has met with the family twice and also communicated via telephone. This morning, the assistant principal met with the parent to develop a plan to support the student. We look forward to welcoming the student back to school and implementing the plan developed collaboratively with the family. "
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