Community brings bullying concerns to Cuero board
Approximately 15 community members attended the Cuero ISD board meeting on Aug. 15 to voice concerns about bullying. Another group attended in support of former junior high faculty who read resignation statements. By law, the board could not respond to the public comments.
Rev. Terry Glover, who is a minister in Goliad and a Cuero City Council member, spoke as a concerned citizen about bullying and specifically on behalf of the family of Kaley Villarreal. The 16-year-old CHS student committed suicide in July. Her father and other loved ones were also in attendance.
Glover said more can be done to address bullying. He said that Kaley was enrolled in Cuero ISD, and he hoped that the counselors were checking on her friends. He said the district has a responsibility to her and those still experiencing bullying.
“We haven’t heard anyone mention her name,” Glover said. “She was not a star athlete, but she should be talked about. Where are the counselors? Some are crying out right now, facing the same thing.
“We can all do more,” Glover said.
He talked about how important it is for parents to check in with their children every night, to sit down together as a family for a half hour or hour each night - without devices.
Even parents.
Glover said bullying can be stopped, “but we have to do a little more than what we’re doing now.” He offered to help the district on the issue of school bullying, “Give me a call – I can help.”
Kaley’s aunt, Stephanie Villarreal, spoke on behalf of her daughter, who is having a hard time going back to school after the death of her cousin. She said her daughter was in tears at school that day and came home early without any staff speaking to her about it.
Villarreal said a principal did call her daughter at home and it helped. She said other students are coming to her and reporting bullying.
““You’re failing these kids,” Villarreal said. “They say they hear ‘we can’t’ from staff, that they are told ‘bring me proof.’ That’s why they don’t want to come to you. They say it’s verbal, from multiple people. How can they prove that?
“You can do something,” she said. “You can pull them in the office and talk to them. These kids are Trotters, they’re athletes.”
Kaley’s father, Dan Villarreal, spoke briefly about a lack of response from the district acknowledging his daughter's death. He asked why there was not a moment of silence for her at school and why her friends feel like they can’t talk about her.
On the subject of junior high resignations, three former teachers, Stephanie Tobola, Debbie Bordovsky and Jennifer Netardus read statements about their reasons for leaving the district.
Tobola expressed gratitude for many CISD teachers and administrators, but especially for Jennifer Netardus, who was her main mentor as a teacher. When Netardus experienced being pushed out, Tobola also found employment elsewhere.
Bordovsky said that her reason for leaving involved junior high scheduling uncertainty. She said hostility developed among teachers because “different teachers were told different things” and there was no follow through on common discussions. She too found employment elsewhere.
Lastly, Jennifer Netardus read a statement about her reasons for leaving after 29 years, saying it was not for more money as has been stated by the district. She said when she discussed her position with her principal, one area of her job was going away, so her salary would be going down. Looking at retirement, she said it was clear she was not valued.
She said after two events between her husband, AgriLife Extension Agent Anthony Netardus, and Superintendent Dyer “there was an increasing number of petty actions” that contributed to her not feeling valued.
Anthony Netardus then spoke to clarify the two incidents of disagreement. One was related to dress code at the Cuero Livestock Show; the other was inhospitable facilities for football team opponents.
After public comments, most community members left the meeting.
On the regular agenda, Superintendent Dyer said he wanted to recognize the food service department for serving 400,000 meals last year.
In school and department reports, Junior High Principal Jamie Dyer said she has put a lot of miles in walking the hallways since the start of school, looking for body language indicating withdrawn students. She also said her faculty have regrouped and morale is at an alltime high.
Superintendent Dyer commented that he was sad that people think the district does not care about bullying. “We understand that this is an issue,” he said. “Anytime there is an issue we investigate it, weekends, holidays, doesn’t matter.”
Student enrollment numbers of 651 in high school and 432 in junior high were shared.
Some items on the budget comparison were clarified for board members and a lower tax rate has been suggested by the county after property valuations. Dyer said every year for the past seven years, the board has lowered tax rates except for one time.
The food service department reported that sales of the new brunch service were lower than expected, probably because parents were buying kids breakfast in the first week of school.
With that, the board adjourned for an executive meeting.
In a followup conversation with Dr. Dyer, he said that the district has eight counselors, two in each school and they’re looking for two more.
“We know how much stress kids are under and how important this is,” he said. “We cannot comment on specific students or personnel, so parents don’t know how deeply saddened we are.”
He said the district has many measures in place to report bullying and that each case is investigated. Dyer said the district formed a committee of community members on bullying and that CISD will also rework their policies this year.
