In recent weeks, Niagara Action has posted a series of articles regarding Niagara Wheatfield Schools and their continued failure to address issues of of bullying, sexual assault and harassment. Recent problems mirror those throughout the last 5-10 years, illustrating a refusal to learn from past mistakes.
The District's attitude towards these issues - ones that fundamentally go to the heart of protecting students - has resulted in being sued by the New York Attorney General.
Letter from Mother of Niagara Wheatfield Student who Requires Psychiatric Help, Medication due to Bullying and Harassment
I am the parent of a middle schooler that has endured bullying from not only students, but also from faculty in the elementary school as well as a teacher in the 6th grade and a former bus driver. My son now requires psychiatric and mental health counseling through social services and has PTSD due to this constant bullying issue. No medication takes the memories and pain away.
The bullying stems all the way back to kindergarten with this school system. We had a neighbor in our apartment building whose kid bullied my kid at home, on the bus and at school. My son was only 5-years-old and the other kid was 7/8 years old. He couldn’t escape it.
I voiced my concerns but the principal made it seem like it was no big deal. In fact, he said "boys will be boys." The only one who helped at school was his kindergarten teacher. She would get him off the bus, have him eat breakfast and lunch with her in the classroom, walked him to the bathroom and took him to the bus at dismissal time.
Last year was my son’s first year in the middle school and one of his teachers physically touched my son multiple times if she didn’t like my son’s work, or if it was incorrect. She would slap his hands if he was holding a pencil or writing with it, rip papers out of his hands, crumple them up and throw it out, and then make him redo the work.
At times it seemed like she mainly attacked the heavier students in her class. I had asked around to other parents and students if they knew the teacher. A lot of them did and had told us she was nasty and had acted this way for years. I should’ve seen the red flags. During open house, parents questioned her about things that other teachers had provided for the parents in advance and she snapped at all of us and got nasty.
My son ended up at home for 2 months in a catatonic state and would rock back and forth in the fetal position. He didn’t want to talk to any of his friends, he wouldn’t go outside and was more and more isolating himself. He seemed like a shell of himself.
I had advised the school that this was happening and the state that he was in. I went into great detail about everything that I had written here, and more. The administration then proceeded to call CPS and said I was neglectful because he was absent so much from school.
The CPS worker found that no neglect or abuse was happening at home. I shared with the caseworker wha my son was enduring at school, and he told her additional details that I did not even know. Things that made me sick to my stomach.
We made a plan after that for him to return to school with hopes of things getting better. Sadly, that was not what happened.
Other students would antagonize my son until he defended himself, either verbally or physically. The other students bullying or harassing my son would not be the ones to get in trouble. Only my son.
I advised the school that the other students needed to reprimanded for their actions as well - not just my son for whatever actions he took to defend himself. Every member of the administration that I spoke with talked down to me and treated me like I was stupid. They claimed it would be handled, but it never was.
A week ago in lunch a kid whips an apple at the back of my son’s head. Everyone started laughing and pointing at my son. He then went and pulled the chair out from under the kid. Maybe not the right choice for my son to do, but what else is there to do? Not a single adult came over despite the fact there are "lunch ladies" and other adults coming in and out supervising.
Even some bus drivers are bullies. My kids used to have a bus driver named Mr. Bob. He whipped a water bottle at the back of my son’s head as he got off the bus. There were several witnesses. I asked for the camera to be looked at and coincidentally the camera was facing the ground.
There was a female student on the bus who called others racial slurs and body shamed them. There was a younger student who sat in the front of the bus who would punch certain kids in the stomach while they waited to get off at their stop. The bus driver ignored it. If the victimized kids said something to the driver, he would tell them that they must’ve done something and deserved it.
As of today, my son has become isolated again. He is in a horrible mental and emotional state. He has been diagnosed with major depressive dossorder and placed in psychiatric treatment. He has suicidal thoughts and it's only by the grace og God that he has not acted on them.
I’m done with the Niagara Wheatfield school system. In the midst of this, I have continually asked Niagara Wheatfield to let him finish the year doing e-leanring, or until a time I can get him into another school. They have denied me each time, claiming that he needs "socialization!"
I don’t know what kind of socialization they think is being provided here, but it’s nothing my son wants or needs. This nonsense at Niagara Wheatfield needs to stop! The school can’t keep brushing this under the rug.
If you would like to share your own experience with Niagara Wheatfield Schools and any of the issues raised throughout this article, please email us at niagaraaction@gmail.com.
HISTORY
A history of major incidents / ones that Niagara Action has reported on for the first time can be found below:
2019 Incident
A cell phone video captured Niagara Wheatfield eighth grader Duane Mays Jr. being harassed by classmates who mock his shirt and use racial slurs. Mays remained calm. His parents, Duane and Quatina Mays, were outraged that their son received an in-school suspension after the incident which occurred during lunch at Edward Town Middle School. They question the lack of adult supervision during the bullying and call for improved anti-bullying programs and better monitoring in schools. The school district acknowledged the video but stated they cannot comment further due to privacy laws, leaving the Mays family dissatisfied with the response. Further, many comments made on social media surrounding the video were parents stating that bullying is common throughout the district.
Attorney General Lawsuit Against Niagara Wheatfield Central School District in 2021
New York Attorney General Letitia James recently won an appeal to continue her lawsuit against the Niagara Wheatfield Central School District alleging that the district ignored abuse, harassment, and bullying within its schools. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a previous ruling that dismissed the case for lack of standing and is allowing the lawsuit to proceed in federal court.
Filed in June 2021, the lawsuit claims the district failed to provide a safe environment for students. It detailed incidents involving four students and citing over 30 other unspecified cases of sexual assault, harassment, and gender-based bullying.
The appellate court's decision emphasized that the district's alleged inaction could have harmful effects on a significant portion of New York's population - leaving students feeling unprotected. The lawsuit outlines actual consequences of the district's negligence including a student's panic attack, another's years of counseling, a third student transferring to a private school, and a fourth dropping out entirely. Some contemplated suicide.
One specific allegation noted that a cheerleading coach dismissed a student's absences by stating, "girls get assaulted all the time," highlighting the troubling culture within the school.
Lawsuit by former student alleging school did not protect her from sexual harassment, bulling and intimidation after she was raped by a classmate
A former Niagara-Wheatfield student filed a federal lawsuit against the Niagara-Wheatfield School District alleging that it failed to protect her from sexual harassment, bullying, and intimidation after she was raped by a classmate in 2018. The lawsuit claims that the victim had to confront her rapist daily and endure ongoing discrimination and harassment which led to mental health issues. Despite Elias Dowdy, the offender, being sentenced to probation and the female student having an order of protection, the school allowed him to continue attending school - further subjecting the victim to harassment. The lawsuit asserts that the district did not take meaningful action to safeguard her from future harm.
Letter from parents of female student in 2024
On October 29, 2024, it came to our attention that our daughter had become the victim of cyberbullying, which then followed her into school. We immediately notified the Niagara Wheatfield school district expecting quick action to protect her. Sadly, we were very wrong.
When the mother of the bully was informed, her response was dismissive: “Your daughter is going to hear worse, especially since she’s chubby.”
Rather than addressing this harmful behavior, the district’s response has been disturbingly inadequate.
After days of waiting, on November 1st, 2024, the district finally responded to our repeated calls for them to do something to protect our daughter. They simply decided that the two students should “stay away from each other” and that there would no further communication from the school with the bully's mother due to her “hostile nature.”
Yes, they actually said that the kids staying away from each other would solve the problem - as if they weren't already told the bullying started over social media.
The district's response disregards the seriousness of the bullying and has only emboldened not only her bully, but others to join in and attack our daughter. What’s worse, the bully’s TikTok account is publicly accessible and has a pinned video that directly targets our daughter. The district has seen this video, yet claims they are powerless to act.
Bullying today is different from when we were kids. Back then it largely stopped when you left school, but now with social media it follows children even into their homes making it impossible to escape. Our daughter, who once loved school, now dreads attending because of this relentless harassment.
We refuse to let our child become another tragic statistic of bullying-related suicide. She deserves a safe, supportive environment, and we’re determined to stand up for her and for every child facing similar challenges. We are reaching out to our community for support to hold the Niagara Wheatfield school district accountable and demand meaningful action before this situation escalates further. The family has been circulating a petition on change.org which can be found here: https://www.change.org/p/demand-stricter-anti-bullying-policies-and-accountability-in-niagara-wheatfield-schools?recruiter=894173903&recruited_by_id=2401a020-a0f8-11e8-b2c9-f3fc72c593a0&utm_source=share_petition&utm_campaign=petition_dashboard_share_modal&utm_medium=copylink.
Email from female student in class of 2025
On Friday, November 15th, a female student at the school wrote the following message to Niagara Action. Although her identity is known to Niagara Action, we are not releasing that to the public.
I am a student at Niagara Wheatfield High School and I'm in the senior class of 2025. The school does nothing about bullying, domestic violence, or sexual assault. I was sexually assaulted by another student and provided a restraining order. The school continued to put me in classes with said student, even when I had the restraining order. They also do nothing about bullying.
I have been bullied for years on end and one of the assistant principals at the High School proceeded to put me on a bus that all of my bullies were on. My mom took me off of that bus, but they knew I was bullied by these people and I have had to call police to my bus stop in the past. Administration refuses to do anything about bullying or sexual assault. I have never felt safe at this school. I don't feel comfortable in this school.
If you would like to share your own experience with Niagara Wheatfield Schools and any of the issues raised throughout this article, please email us at niagaraaction@gmail.com.
Niagara Wheatfield Bullying: 'My son was in a catatonic state and would rock back and forth in the fetal position'