LORAIN -- Lorain school officials this week executed an ''emergency removal'' of an 8-year-old boy who they say sexually harassed a girl in gym class. The boy's mother, Tammy Barth, said yesterday her son was playing in gym on Tuesday when a girl student said he and two other boys may have grabbed her buttocks. He was then questioned in an informal hearing by school officials and he admitted he had been passing love notes to the same girl.

The second-grader then asked to sign a notice of emergency removal form for sexual harassment without a parent present, Barth said. The boy printed his first name on the portion of the form asking for his signature. School documents provided by Barth and the boy's father, Frank Johnson, did not give specifics on the incident but showed that the second-grader was removed from school on Tuesday for ''sexual harassment during gym.'' It also states the student ''admits to writing notes saying ÔI love you' and giving them to a student.''

''It's an embarrassment to me and it's an embarrassment to him because he doesn't understand what's going on,'' Barth said. Lorain schools spokesman Dean Schnurr confirmed yesterday that a student was sent home on an ''emergency removal'' for inappropriate actions. Schnurr insisted that his removal was a minor, precautionary action. ''It's not a disciplinary action,'' Schnurr said yesterday, adding the allegation will not be placed in the student's permanent record. ''We don't want to put something in the permanent record of a youngster who may not understand what they did wrong.

''He admitted to what he was being accused of,'' Schnurr said, unable to give specifics but said they were ''inappropriate'' in nature. However, the student's mother said the school assumed her son touched the girl because he had written her a love letter a few weeks ago. ''Apparently, they had to treat it as sexual harassment,'' Barth said, adding the girl has been friends with her son for a long time. ''And then he was given a day off of school because of passing notes that say ÔI love you.'''

Johnson said the incident was harmless and referring to it as sexual harassment is what was ''inappropriate.''' ''Little kids are going to do stupid things like that,'' he said of his son passing love letters. The student was temporarily removed from school for a day, March 23, and instructed to come back to school on March 24 with a parent. ''It's our job to teach students at a young age that inappropriate behavior is unacceptable,'' Schnurr said. ''The student did something wrong, admitted he did something wrong and received the proper discipline.''

He added it is unfortunate that this discipline is not emphasized at the student's home. The second-grader's parents are still wondering how to discipline their son because they are not sure of what he did wrong. Barth said being reprimanded for passing love notes to another student is not and should not be a disciplinary matter. Johnson said his son has had a difficult time with the whole ordeal.

''He started crying and he thinks he did something wrong (by passing a love letter),'' Johnson said. ''He's a good kid and he's very, very shy. And now he's emotionally distraught.'' Barth and Johnson are planning to remove their two children from Frank Jacinto, and the Lorain School system altogether, sometime next week and enroll them in the Clearview Schools District. She said she and Johnson are also looking into taking civil action against the school.

All four of her children are honor roll students, she said, adding that any school system would be happy to take them.

''I want them out of there before (the school system) does some damage.


©The Morning Journal 2006

Wimmins is Nuttin' but Trouble... They oughtta be Caged at 16 and Shot at 20!

Girl, 5, Forced To Apologize For Hugging Classmate
Parents Looking For New School For Girl

POSTED: 6:02 pm EDT April 5, 2006
UPDATED: 7:59 pm EDT April 5, 2006

MAYNARD, Mass. -- A family in Maynard is outraged after their 5-year-old daughter was forced to write a letter denouncing hugging after a classmate embraced her.

NewsCenter 5's Amalia Barreda reported that Brenda Brier and Michael Marino pulled their daughter, Savannah, out of school early Wednesday. The couple was angry after a meeting with officials at the Greenmeadow Elementary School in Maynard, where Savannah is in kindergarten.

At issue is a hug Savannah said she got on the playground from a friend named Sophie. Savannah hugged Sophie back. The hugs resulted in Savannah having to write a letter, complete with teacher corrections, that read, "I touch Sophie because she touch me and I didn't like it because she was hugging me. I didn't like when she hugged me."

"She said, 'I'm really sad that I got in trouble for hugging,'" Brier said.


"I can understand if boys are playing rough or kids are pulling each other around -- that's one thing. But when kids are being affectionate, I mean hugging, hey, they shouldn't be disciplined over it and they shouldn't be lying in letters making the kid say the opposite that they don't like to hug," Marino said.

School Superintendent Mark Masterson told NewsCenter 5 there was a "dispute of the facts between a hug and a lifting of a child off the floor." The superintendent said the school reported "one girl bear hugged another girl and lifted her off the ground. The aide who was monitoring told the teacher. The teacher asked several students to write a note to their parents and describe what happened."

Savannah said she did not lift her classmate off the ground.

"They're trying to accuse her now, basically," Brier said.

Savannah's parents said it should have never gone this far, and want an apology from the school. The family said they are so upset they'll start looking for a new school for their daughter to attend.