By Louis Chan
AsAmNews National Correspondent
Parents angered by recent incidents of bullying in the Fairfield, Ohio School District submitted a petition of more than 1,000 signatures to improve its execution of its anti-bullying policy Thursday night.
Tessa Xuan, a concerned citizen on the board of the Greater Cincinnati chapter of the National Association of Asian American Professionals, reminded the Board that people were still watching the schools for incidents of bullying.
The increased attention to bullying follows what critics say was the harassment of two adopted Chinese daughters from China, one who eventually committed suicide.
Last night the principals of ten schools in the district each made a presentation of what their schools are doing to reduce bullying.
“On the whole, some steps are being taken against bullying, but given the pervasiveness of the bullying culture especially in the intermediate and middle school buildings, only time will tell,” said Charleston C. K. Wang to AsAmNews.
Wang is representing Ray and Sharon Schmitz in their case against the district. The Schmitz family says their daughter was targeted at a hockey game during a PE class. They say a boy rushed toward their daughter and intentionally swung his stick at her ankles. She tripped and suffered a concussion.
The daughter was best friends with Emilie Olsen, the girl who committed suicide after the school district ignored her parents pleas for help. Ray Schmitz, even prior to the incident at the PE class, has been extremely vocal about what he feels is a lack of attention to bullying at Fairfield Schools.
The video below is a confrontation between Schmitz and the school board during a meeting in May.
Also at last night’s meeting, Dr. Gang Lu invited the Fairfield City Board of Education and the school administration to attend a candlelight vigil and memorial service for Olsen.
The vigil will be held December 11 at the Community Christian Church at 7 p.m.
(A previous version of this story incorrectly identified Tessa Xuan. We apologize for the error).
