Ocean Breeze Elementary School Principal Laurie Hering was formally reprimanded on June 15 for improper handling of a bullying incident, after being placed on a month’s paid leave pending an investigation into a series of events which left one fourth grade girl with a concussion.
Students wondered why Hering was not at the Indian Harbour Beach school the last week of classes. A message on the morning announcements said Hering was out sick.
The truth was that on May 16, Hering was placed on paid administrative leave via a hand-delivered letter from Chief Human Resources Officer Carol Kindt, banned from all school board property and from contacting any colleagues, employees or students during the month-long investigation.
Hering has been certified to teach in Florida since 1983, and joined the Brevard County School District in 1985. She was promoted to principal in 2012 and in 2015 entered the Deferred Retirement Option Program, scheduling her retirement for October 2020. She’s been consistently rated effective or highly effective for her 32 years with the district.
The Melbourne Beachsider first requested records pertaining to Hering’s absence and the Ocean Breeze bullying incident via Superintendent Desmond Blackburn on May 26. It took more than six weeks to obtain all the requested documents that the school district did not claim were exempt or confidential.
Public records show the parents of the victim on April 19 reported repeated physical bullying and intimidation of students in teacher Michael Sacik’s class by a female classmate. Hering visited the class without the accused present and asked the pupils if they had been bullied. The vast majority raised a hand in the affirmative, according to the victim’s parents, plus several independent accounts of students who were present in the classroom.
Alleged actions included pushing and shoving, threatening to hit pupils in the face with a hand, tripping and pulling out chairs from under them.
Parents of the more than a dozen students who raised their hands were not notified that their child had told the principal they had been bullied. Hering told district officials “only a few” students raised their hands. Documents state Hering “checked back with students on April 24 and 25 and there were no reports. She spoke to students in the cafeteria and the hallways.”
Hering finally opened an investigation packet on May 1 after a subsequent complaint, but did not remove the accused from the classroom or notify the various subject and activity teachers who taught the involved pupils.
A week later, according to investigation reports, the problem erupted again on the physical education teacher’s watch, when the accused bully allegedly pushed her victim into a pole. The victim’s parents say that on May 8, “Their child was assaulted in physical education class and the teacher had no knowledge of the issue between the two children.”
Hering told school district officials “she didn’t inform the staff because she felt she shouldn’t inform them prior to finding the accused guilty of bullying.”
The report goes on to say that “in hindsight, she believes she should have opened the investigation and packet on April 21, 2017,” and “she feels terrible the child was injured.”
Hering gave a statement to the Melbourne Beachsider, “Every investigation of bullying is taken seriously at our school. Maintaining confidentiality is paramount, thus (it) makes it difficult to speak to the details of the investigation. I would like to share that my initial reaction was do what I could to put a stop to any bullying or bullying-like behavior while the investigation took place.
“My key error was related to the timeliness of the first step with the investigation in the completion of the Student Reporting Form, not the process, determination of findings, or the investigation as a whole,” Hering added.
The Brevard County School District has a zero tolerance policy on bullying, so a valid complaint should trigger an immediate investigation, with measures to protect or separate the involved students. That did not happen. The district concluded, “This created a situation in which Mrs. Hering placed herself in jeopardy of losing the respect and confidence of parents and the community.”
The school’s failure to notify the parents of the students who indicated they were also bullied led to the mother of the victim of the head injury reaching out to Ocean Breeze families on social media and via group texts.
Hering’s written reprimand, signed by Jane Cline, Assistant Superintendent of Elementary Leading and Learning, states, “In the future, I expect you to ensure all bullying investigations are completed in a timely manner and in accordance with School Board Policy 5517.01, Bullying, Harassment and Dating Violence and Abuse. Failure to correct this behavior will result in further disciplinary action and will be reflected on your annual evaluation.”
The injured victim’s parents pulled their daughter out of school, and the girl was so distraught, according to the family’s correspondence with the school district, that she said she would rather be held back a grade than advance to chance winding up in the same class again with the accused bully. Among the effects of the bullying, the family said, were the victim’s changed personality and months of insomnia.
Hering said staff and students will receive training on bullying as classes resume.
“It is inevitable that conflict will occur during the school year. Our focus on the culture of the classroom is designed to help students learn to work as supportive teammates with each other, and to hold themselves personally accountable for their actions, and accountable to their team,” Hering said.
