Emilie Olsen took her own life on December 11, 2014. There is always something wrong when a young person's life ends so abruptly. Almost immediately, her friends and family knew this terrible act was something that only very dark and painful factors could have driven Emilie to.
Within days of her death, Emilie's friends and family began to piece together what had happened. They didn't have the proof or any documentation at that point, but those close to Emilie knew that bullying she endured at Fairfield City Schools may have been a factor in her decision to take her own life. A firestorm among local parents, news media, and social media soon began as rumors and reports about what role bullying may have played began swirling around the community.
Questions soon were asked about what, if anything, Fairfield City Schools knew about the bullying and when it may have known. Some reports even indicated that the bullying took on a racial tone, as Emilie was adopted from China.
Multiple local news media TV outlets reported on the controversy in late December 2014:
Local print media also reported on the story. The Cincinnati Enquirer ran a story on December 16th, 2014, questioning whether any possible bullying of Emilie took on racial overtones. According to the Enquirer, neither the district or police found evidence of bullying.
Gina Gentry-Fletcher, spokeswoman for Fairfield Schools, said "this is a tragic situation for the family members, classmates and staff, and we are keeping all of them in our thoughts."
Fairfield school officials made grief counselors available Friday and Monday to Middle School students, said Gentry-Fletcher.
"Unfortunately there have been many rumors and misinformation about bullying in regards to the tragedy," she said.
"The middle school administration was advised of previous concerns regarding bullying (in elementary school), however the district believed the issue had been resolved to the complete satisfaction of the family," said Gentry-Fletcher.
Against this backdrop of rumors, denials, and accusations between the Olsen family, community members, and the school district, came the report from the Journal-News that district officials had visited the Olsen home with police a few days after Emilie's loss. The Olsens felt intimidated, and stated that they were being told to quit "stirring the pot." District officials later claimed it was all a coincidence that police and the principal of Fairfield Middle School showed up at the Olsen home together. The community didn't buy that explanation from the district and was incensed.
The Journal-News also reported on an anti-bullying protest organized by the friends Emilie left behind. Her harassment appears to be something universally agreed upon in December 2014, with the exception of Fairfield City Schools.
Emilie's story even grow to become worldwide news. She was a topic in the Daily Mail in the United Kingdom. Bullying and Fairfield, Ohio were quickly becoming known internationally.
As controversy continued to engulf Fairfield City Schools, Superintendent Paul Otten released this letter to quell the public furor:
In this letter, Mr. Otten essentially denies that Fairfield City Schools had any knowledge that bullying may have been a factor in Emilie's case. More importantly, Mr. Otten takes to task anyone inside our outside the community for so much as daring to ask questions or form an opinion contrary to the district's official account of what happened in Emilie's case.
And at this point, the holidays kicked in for 2014, and Emilie's case seemed to sadly fade away when 2015 began. Her case would remain dormant until May 2015. We'll take up that part of the story in our next post.
The superintendent has lost all credibility in this district. Mr. Otten should have known about the bullying of this student. If he did know he lied and if he didn’t know he should have. Either way it reflects on Mr. Otten’s inability to serve as a leader and ultimately points to his negligence when it comes to how this was handled. At the very least once Emilie’s death occurred he had a responsibility for due diligence before addressing the community. If he had done that, if he had taken the time to look into the matter, he would have read the reports of bullying by school officials. The “top of the chain” should have read the school file before sending out a letter with false information. That letter should have never been circulated to my home and 10,000 other students in the first place. Ignoring that it was void of fact, it was in poor taste to send. Why did he not think about the impact to Emilie’s parents? We have never sent a letter like that home in the past 20 years when a student passed away, so why this one? What was his motivation? Why did we choose only to do this to the Olsen family? It calls to question the character of our leader and school board. It also helps to explain why the systemic problem exists in our buildings in the first place. Our building principals take direction from our leadership at the top; Superintendent and school board. They are the guiding light for the policies and administration. If Mr. Otten does not do his job, then how can we expect the building principals to behave any differently?
ReplyDeleteWhen people do not do their job they are supposed to held accountable. In Fairfield there is no accountability. I hate to break it to the supporters who will read this, but we tolerate bullying in Fairfield. Ask your kids and you will learn they have either been bullied, or watched others get bullied. Then ask them what consequences if any ever come to the bully. You will be shocked and disappointed in what you learn. If our leaders actually disciplined appropriately we wouldn’t have as many situations like this however Fairfield continually turns a blind eye. We choose to focus on what I call damage control. While fixing the systemic problems and focusing on protecting students should be paramount, their efforts are always geared toward legal liability and limiting bad press. This is evidenced further by the districts statement that they plan to “change nothing”. A beautiful young lady took her life. The entire community should be asking “what can we do differently”? The attitude and approach taken by FCSD administration and school board squashes the opportunity to improve upon our schools. The only concern throughout this process has been to admit no wrong doing. Honestly, Mr. Otten owes the Olson’s a PUBLIC apology for the false statement about their daughter’s death. The community has lost faith in his leadership and he should resign and take with him the principals who also failed Emilie.
My ultimate wish is that the Olsen’s go to trial and not settle out of court. I cannot imagine how hard it is to be in the spotlight for something so painful, but this is a chance to keep others from suffering and not just in Fairfield, but across the state and beyond. It is the school’s responsibility to provide a safe environment to learn that is free from constant harassment. It is too late to do this for Emilie, but the Olson’s have an opportunity to make something positive happen from this tragedy. If they do not settle out of court, their battle can help to end the pain and suffering for another child in our district and beyond. That is all Emilie wanted… was to end the pain and suffering afflicted by her classmates. I applaud the Olson’s for their courage and bravery to take on our district for the good of change.