Father says son suspended after alerting Monhagen MS administration to students with a knife
News 12 is learning that the Middletown school district may have been able to prevent at stabbing at Monhagen Middle School Wednesday, but allegedly instead suspended the teenage whistleblower who they thought was lying.
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News 12 is learning that the Middletown school district may have been able to prevent at stabbing at Monhagen Middle School Wednesday, but allegedly instead suspended the teenage whistleblower who they thought was lying.
Rick Ramos says his son told administrators on Tuesday that kids who previously bullied him had a knife on campus.
“They didn’t want to listen to him,” says Ramos.
As News 12 reported, Ramos’ 14-year-old was allegedly beaten last month. The father says it was by the same group of kids involved in Wednesday’s incident that police say caused a 13-year-old to suffer multiple stab wounds.
The Middletown father gave News 12 a screengrab of a death threat he says students sent his son. He claims that instead of getting help from administrators, the teen was suspended in November when he ran out of the school scared after he was attacked.
Ramos says his son was back for the first time on Tuesday and tried to get help from adults again.
“They made him feel like he’s a liar,” Ramos says. “They said your son may have mental issues.”
District Superintendent Amy Creeden wouldn’t take any questions at a news conference outside of the school Wednesday morning and walked away when News 12 reporter Blaise Gomez tried to ask if the school knew that a student may have had a knife.
Creeden told News 12 on Tuesday after Ramos’ first interview that he was lying. The father says the school was upset that the information leaked out.
“They kept saying you got us on the news, you’re making us look bad, you need to call the news and take it down,” Ramos says.
Ramos says his son was retaliated against and suspended again on his first day back – this time for also allegedly lying about the kids with a knife.
News 12 has reported on parent concerns with school violence, policy and transparency in Middletown for months. In November, a daylong melee and alleged security breach at the high school resulted in classes being canceled and an arrest.
The district and Middletown police wouldn’t say if anyone was charged at the time. News 12 confirmed the information weeks later, after pressing the mayor for information.
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