Parents call for written concussion reports and new bullying policy after student sent to ER

Parent commenters at the Johnson County Board of Education meeting on Jan. 9 pressed district officials for clearer incident reporting and a standardized bullying policy after a middle-school student who later visited the ER was not immediately evaluated at school.

At the start of public comment, a woman identified in the transcript as Chris Jones told the board her son sustained a head-to-head collision at school and “was taken to urgent care,” where clinicians diagnosed a concussion and later referred him to the ER. Jones said she was not notified the day of the incident and asked whether the incident had been documented in writing and placed in the teacher’s file.

District staff responding during the meeting said an investigation had been conducted. “Mister Hagaman did that as soon as you brought that in the other day,” a staff member said. Later, the district representative told Jones they would share a written report of the investigation and confirm whether any disciplinary actions were placed in an employee file.

Several commenters questioned whether staff on duty followed the district’s medical and reporting policies. One public commenter told the board, “He should have been fired on the spot from that medical neglect. That is illegal.” The district replied that the adults in the room had been counseled about procedures and that the coach had received a reprimand.

In response to multiple citizens’ calls for systemic changes, a board member moved that the board schedule a work session to develop a clear, standardized bullying and incident-reporting policy. The motion, and subsequent discussion, emphasized that parents should be able to file complaints at the school level rather than having to travel to central office and that the district should publish step-by-step responses for different grade bands (K–6 and 7–12).

District officials said they would continue the investigation and provide Jones a written report. Board and staff members also committed to convene a work session to draft a bullying policy that would standardize notification, investigation, documentation and parent communication practices across schools.

The board did not adopt a formal new policy at the Jan. 9 meeting; instead it directed staff to schedule the work session and return with a proposed policy for board consideration.