Parent urges Batavia schools to act after repeated attacks on middle school student

Sarah Keegan, a parent of an eighth-grade student at Batavia Middle School, told the Batavia City School District Board of Education during public comment that her son has been the target of repeated bullying and physical attacks over more than a year.

Keegan said her son was assaulted at the end of last school year and again on Sept. 10, which required ambulance transport to a hospital. She said a second attack on Sept. 16 involved a group of roughly 15 students chasing her son; his father intervened and sustained a bloody nose when two students struck him. Keegan said one of the alleged attackers no longer attends the middle school but waits across the street for her son, while the other still attends and has followed and threatened her son in school hallways.

Keegan asked the district to enforce “section 9 part d in the code of conduct,” which she said covers bullying, cyberbullying and harassment, and to impose repercussions on the students involved. She asked that teachers receive notice, that hallway supervision be increased and that dismissal procedures include more adult presence so students who wait off-site cannot confront students leaving the school. Keegan also raised concern about a Sept. 10 incident in which a student brought a knife to school; she said another student reported the weapon to an adult and asked what would have happened if no one had done so.

Board President John Regal thanked Keegan for speaking and said Mr. Smith, the superintendent, would follow up and that the district would contact her the next day. Regal and other board members expressed appreciation for Keegan advocating on behalf of her son. At the meeting, Regal later described student discipline and behavior at school events as an increasing concern and announced proposed changes to event attendance policies (see separate article).

The comment by Keegan was recorded as public comment; the transcript shows no formal board vote or policy change in response, though board members and the superintendent committed to follow up with the family. The transcript does not record the district taking any immediate disciplinary action in the meeting itself, nor does it specify whether the police provided further updates after the incidents Keegan described.

Keegan said she has not allowed her son to return to school until “some type of safety protocol is put into place” and said the incidents have worsened her son’s depression and anxiety. She recommended applying for New York State school safety grants she found online, such as funding for additional school resource officers, cameras and metal detectors.

The transcript records a direct district response: Board President John Regal said Mr. Smith would follow up and the district would call Keegan the next day. No additional details about planned disciplinary steps, investigation timelines or specific security measures were stated on the record.

Keegan and the board highlighted the tension between the limits of criminal enforcement and school discipline. Keegan said local police told her that because of the ages of the students and “nothing being broken,” the police could not act; that characterization is reported here as Keegan described it in public comment. The board did not offer a legal interpretation of those police statements during the meeting.

Keegan’s full remarks appear in the public-comment portion of the transcript. The district recorded a board pledge to follow up with the family and indicated staff would investigate and communicate with her directly.