Mother withdraws daughter from high school after she says her daughter was bullied

Posted at: 09/24/2012 11:16 PM | Updated at: 09/28/2012 1:01 PM
By: Lynette Adams | WHEC.com

Candi Cassidy says her daughter has been bullied for months now, verbally attacked by other students.

Her daughter, Haley McClean is a senior at Hornell High School. On Monday, McClean says she was punched in the face by another student.

On Tuesday, Candi Cassidy will be either looking for a new school for her daughter or a new place to live. She says her daughter and her son who is in the seventh grade have been the victims of bullying in and out of school. Now she's taking action.

Candi Cassidy has had enough. She says, "I went to school and pulled her right from school."

She says her daughter has been bullied and harassed since January when the family moved to Hornell and Haley McClean started attending Hornell High School.

She says the district has done nothing to stop it, and neither have police. Today when the bullying became physical, she withdrew 17-year-old Haley from school.

Of the encounter, Haley says, "Some girl came up and punched me in the face, like on my lip ring and it hurts really bad right now."

Cassidy says, "A child's being harassed and she needs to graduate...as a parent and an educator... a child's being harassed. Who do you check the child that's being bullied or the kid that a bully and it seems to me they took the kids that are bullying, their side."

This is supposed to be Haley's last year of high school... a fun time. But she says she's been verbally attacked everyday. Then there's the cyber bullying with posts on her Facebook page.

One poster tell her she doesn't like her and warns Haley to watch her back.

Haley says, "It hurts really bad. Makes you want to cry. I'm not the type to hurt anybody. I wouldn't even hurt my little brother."

News10NBC spoke with the superintendent of schools, Doug Wyant. He is away at a conference, but says he is aware that a student has been assaulted, but said he heard it happened off school grounds.

He would not talk specifically about McClean's case, but says the district has implemented an anti-bullying program this school year.

This family isn't convinced. Haley's brother says he has also been a victim of bullying.

A police report was filed last week when Stephen Cassidy was attacked and hit on the back. His mother says a classmate who has been bullying him all year is responsible.

She asks the question, "Why does somebody have to get hurt or something else before someone's going to take action?"

News10NBC did speak with Hornell Police Chief Ted Murray. He says this is the first he is hearing of this case of bullying. However, he says the school's resource officer will look at the school's videotape on Tuesday to see exactly what happened.

He says a police report has been filed and an investigation is underway.

Candi Cassidy says she is looking to see if there are any alternative programs in Hornell. She is looking into courses online or home schooling. The challenge will be making sure Haley can secure enough credits to graduate.

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