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'Do better.' Speakers criticize SMFHS response to students' Instagram page on mental health

Akron Beacon Journal
Nov 23, 2021

A group of Stow-Munroe Falls citizens urged the board of education Monday to listen to — and believe — stories about bullying, racism, sexual harassment and mental health challenges published anonymously on Instagram.

They also implored administrators to "do better" when responding to such reports.

But the creator of the Concerned Students of SMFHS Instagram page and a classmate who helps run the account were not allowed to attend the Monday meeting due to suspensions they claim were "retaliatory."

Superintendent Tom Bratten declined to comment on matters involving specific students. A board member defended the district's response to the page and mental health efforts.

More: Stow-Munroe Falls sophomore starts Instagram page to show student struggles in school

High school sophomore Alexandria Bloom, 15, created the account last month after several classmates told her they experienced racism, bullying, homophobia, sexual harassment or mental health challenges but felt ignored when they reached out for help. The account currently has more than 1,100 followers.

Bloom said school administrators quickly identified her as the account's creator and asked her to take it down, which she declined.

She said a principal told her that the district had discussed the page with its attorneys and could not force her to take it down. Administrators asked her to redact the names of school staff, which she agreed to do moving forward.

Susan Bloom, Alexandria's mother, said her daughter felt like she was being carefully watched by school administrators and then last week was told to immediately change the account's profile picture that used the district's bulldog logo due to copyright infringement.

They also wanted her to redact the names of staff members that appeared on the account's earliest posts. Bloom did not retroactively alter posts she made prior to her agreement.

Then on Friday, Bloom and her journalism classmate who helps run the account, Meredith Kerensky, were suspended for skipping journalism classes on Thursday and Friday.

Both students say that they were not in class because they were reporting stories and that it is common practice to do so. They also said that their absences were not reflected in the district's digital records.

"I find it a bit odd that two good students who don't get in trouble would get suspended for skipping a class that would normally garner a warning," Kerensky's mother, Bertie Kerensky, told the school board. "And the suspension also happens to be on a Monday, which means they aren't allowed to enter the school to speak at the meeting tonight and that's what they were planning to do. The girls aren't trying to get anyone in trouble. They're looking for ways to get students' needs met, and I feel like the administration is retaliating against them for doing that."

Bertie Kerensky was joined by 10 other citizens who spoke on behalf of Alexandria and Meredith. The group wants the district to hire more counselors, add mental health and LGBTQIA+ issues to the Diversity Equity and Inclusion initiative and create a culture of accountability.

"The lack of urgency, action and attention regarding the newest public information about the student body's struggles is a representation of how poorly the crisis is being handled," sophomore Payton Kelley said. "Having QR codes on the bathroom mirrors and creating Hope Squads that are made up of fellow students who may also be struggling themselves is woefully inadequate."

The school currently has QR codes posted throughout the building that link to the mental health resources, as part of the City of Stow's You Matter initiative.

More: New initiative wants residents to know 'You Matter'

Hope Squad is a new peer-to-peer suicide prevention program that trains nominated student leaders to identify at-risk students, provide friendship and seek help from an adult.

Kelley continued, "I would like to see counselors more engaged, approachable, present. This mental health crisis is not one-sided. The actions the administration have taken to date have been ineffective and demeaning. I've been told: 'When you know better, you do better.' So I ask you to please do better."

Several people also demanded a retraction or apology from the district for the initial statement from high school Principal Jeff Hartmann who called the Instagram account "one-sided" and said it "does not portray the support provided by our counselors each and every day" in an Oct. 29 email to high school parents.

In response, board vice president Jason Whitacre urged "everyone to extend each other some grace" and defended Hartmann and the high school staff.

"They are trying very hard, they are listening, and there are things in these types of situations that you can't address publicly... that doesn't mean [discipline] didn't happen, but no one knows," he said.

The number of students seeing counselors has increased this year, while counselors "are struggling themselves" and "trying their best to address a growing need," Whitacre said.

The high school's current student to counselor ratio is 300:1, which is lower than the Ohio 2019-2020 average of 409:1 and the national average of 424:1, according to the American School Counselor Association.

ASCA has recommended a ratio of 250:1 since 1965. In the 2019-2020 school year, only New Hampshire and Vermont met that recommendation.

Bratten said the district has not added counselors to the high school since he joined the district in 2015, instead adding three counselors to the lower grade levels.

"We were sorely lacking help at Lakeview and Kimpton," he said. "We were trying to get more help at the younger ages to see if we can curtail some of that, to be more preventative at the younger levels so we're less reactionary at the lower levels. Right now, there's not room in the budget to add more."

Bloom and Kerensky watched the board meeting remotely and said that they were disappointed and frustrated by Whitacre's response, but would continue to share stories on the Instagram page.

Reporter Krista S. Kano can be reached at 330-541-9416, kkano@thebeaconjournal.com or on Twitter @KristaKanoABJ.

©2021 www.beaconjournal.com. Visit beaconjournal.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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