Somerville parent tells Dorchester 02 board his son was bullied and says district dismissed their concerns

Jason Brockert used his three-minute public-comment time at the Feb. 24 Dorchester 02 board meeting to accuse the district of failing to respond adequately to repeated bullying incidents involving his family and to express frustration with board communications.

Brockert said his 14-year-old son Julian died by suicide on May 23 and that Julian "was significantly bullied several times on DD2 schools." Brockert recounted multiple prior attempts to have his concerns addressed: "We reported it. Fact. We do not feel that it was followed up on correctly. Fact. We had been ghosted for a long time. Fact," he told the board.

Brockert said district leaders had offered to speak only behind closed doors and that he felt dismissed when asking for engagement in public meetings. "Will you ever have the decency to acknowledge me, or are you still hoping that I'll just go away and leave you alone to celebrate your accolades while people suffer daily?" he asked.

The chair noted the board had no executive session scheduled and the meeting proceeded to adjournment. Board members did not provide an on-the-record response to Brockert’s statements during that night's public-comment period.

The board and district materials in the packet include references to anti-bullying training and a progressive discipline review; Brockert urged the board to do more to acknowledge and address what he described as ongoing failures in district response.