Recently, Niagara Action began publishing a series of stories illustrating a culture of bullying, assaults, and harassment at North Tonawanda City Schools.
Click Headlines to Read Prior Stories
North Tonawanda Schools Face Backlash Over Failure to Protect Students from Bullying
A Culture of Unreported Violence: North Tonawanda Schools Part 1 (videos of physical altercations included)
Former Assistant Principal Rachel Ross Protects Bullies: North Tonawanda Schools Part 2 (audio recording of Ross yelling at student included)
Student Beaten after Principal Rowles Fails to Act: North Tonawanda Schools Part 3 (video of physical altercation included)
Special Education Student Locked in Bathroom and Beaten: North Tonawanda Schools Part 4
Assault Victim Punished Instead of Bully: North Tonawanda Schools Part 5
Victim of Explicit Photo Dissemination Suspended: North Tonawanda Schools Part 6
Special Education Student Bullied by Teachers: North Tonawanda Schools Part 7
Gym Teacher Ryan Mountain Watching Girls Change: North Tonawanda Schools Part 8
Assistant Principal Rachel Wagner Witnesses Assault and Does Nothing: North Tonawanda Schools Part 9
Weaponizing Child Protective Services: North Tonawanda Schools Part 10
Former Principal Fisher Blamed My Son's Sexual Orientation for Death Threat: North Tonawanda Schools Part 11
After the articles circulated throughout the community, several parents, current and former students submitted their experiences via email to us. Their stories amounted to a simple conclusion: there is a refusal to protect students in North Tonawanda.
This series is based on a combination of first-hand narratives and investigative reporting. Narratives/allegations from those who experienced it will be posted without any redaction and/or modifications. That is their truth, and we are not here to take that away from them. We do not post them as fact, but rather as what these individuals experienced.
If you would like to share your own experience with North Tonawanda Schools and any of the issues raised throughout this article, please email us at niagaraaction@gmail.com.
Email from a mother whose children were bullied, beaten and betrayed by those meant to protect them.
As a mother, my number one job is to protect my children, but what happens when the very institution meant to educate and support them turns its back? When the place they should feel safe becomes a source of anxiety and pain?
Both of my sons have experienced relentless bullying at North Tonawanda High School, to the point that I pulled both of them out. They both now rely on the Apex online learning program not because they wanted to, but because they had no other choice. The school and administration —the very people who should have stepped in and protected them— failed them time and time again.
The Physical and Emotional Attacks
My eldest son was a victim of repeated physical assaults, having been slapped, punched, and attacked multiple times. Some of these incidents were even caught on video. Despite proof in the hands of administrators of what he was enduring, nothing was done.
He tried to seek help. I tried to seek help. Each time we were met with silence, indifference, or empty promises.
Then came my younger son. He was an exceptional student and bright child who loved school and had plans for his future. Entering 9th grade he had a record of straight A’s, perfect attendance and excellent behavior. He was determined to succeed.
That all changed because of one lie.
One day, while walking through the crowded hallways, he accidentally bumped into a popular girl, causing her phone to drop. It was an innocent mistake, but she turned it into something far worse. In anger, she fabricated a claim that he had said something vile to her, words that I know he would never say.
“I hope you get raped.”
Her claim was a cruel and malicious lie. The school never did an investigation, questioned neutral witnesses or considered my son's character and history. No, they took her side and suspended him based solely on the testimony of her friends, individuals who had every reason to back up her false claim.
I went to the school and pleaded with them to look into it further, to consider that my son would never say something so awful, but they refused. The decision had been made and damage done.
Relentless Harassment and a School that Didn’t Care
That one false accusation became fuel for the fire. My son became a target. He was bullied, harassed, and tormented for an entire year. He wasn’t just mocked but physically attacked. There were times when multiple students ganged up on him.
They didn’t just torment him at school, they also followed him home.
Four of his bullies came all the way to our backyard chasing him. If we didn't have a gate, they might have caught him. They filmed themselves threatening him and shared it on Snapchat, turning their cruelty into entertainment.
I called the school over and over again. I met with teachers, counselors, the principal. I begged for them to do something —to protect my son— but they wouldn't.
Their response?
“Well, it happened off school grounds, so there’s nothing we can do.”
Punished for Protecting My Sons
As my son’s mental health worsened and the bullying continued with no intervention, I made the only choice a mother could; I stopped forcing him to go to school. I refused to send him into a place where he was being tormented daily.
The school then started calling about why he was starting to miss so many days of school. Their calls became more threatening about involving Child Protective Services if he did not show up.
I contacted the school in tears several times. I was hopeful that the school would be understanding, but they were not. I told them about his declining mental health and how he has struggling with depression. I even disclosed to them how he had started self-harming.
Their response?
“He needs to show up. We’ll be extra aware of the situation.”
Extra awareness. That’s all they could offer.
Did they ask how they could help? Did they take accountability for failing to protect him? No.
No action. No protection. Just meaningless words while my son suffered.
Instead, they called Child Protective Services on me, reporting me for educational neglect.
On three separate occasions they tried to punish me for keeping my son safe. Three separate times I had to endure investigations with strangers coming into my home, questioning my parenting, and making me feel like a criminal.
Each time CPS found no wrongdoing and sent a letter clearing me.
And yet, the school continued their harassment. They sent school officers to my home five different times to discuss truancy. They had officials come by, leaving notes demanding I contact them about his absences.
Absences caused by their own failure to act.
Ironically, it was a CPS worker—not the school—who actually helped get my son enrolled in the Apex online learning program. The same program the school never followed up on when I initially requested it.
The Toll on My Children
I look at my sons now and see the scars this experience has left. Not just the physical ones—the bruises and marks from being grabbed by the throat—but the emotional ones. The anxiety, fear, and betrayal from a system that should have protected them.
North Tonawanda High School failed my sons. It failed to protect them. It failed to listen. It failed to take action, and when I tried to advocate for them, the school attacked me.
No other child should have to endure what my sons went through. No other parent should have to fight just to keep their child safe.
If you would like to share your own experience with North Tonawanda Schools and any of the issues raised throughout this article, please email us at niagaraaction@gmail.com.
Bullied, Beaten and Betrayed by Administration: North Tonawanda Schools Part 12