Merrillville school superintendent says Facebook remarks about incident ‘blown up’
by Lori Caldwell lcaldwell@post-trib.com | 648-3258 March 12, 2013 3:56PM
Updated: April 14, 2013 6:35AM
MERRILLVILLE — A Facebook status posted by the mother of a Pierce Middle School student tells of a frightening encounter between her daughter and two boys in the hallway last week.
But video surveillance footage and the subsequent investigation by school officials suggest the incident was somewhat less violent than the girl’s mother described.
“It’s been blown up,” Merrillville Community Schools Superintendent Tony Lux said Tuesday.
The two boys face suspension for sexual harassment because of “inappropriate comments” they made to the girl on March 7.
The girl has not been in class since the boys stopped her in the hall and commented “about her looking good,” Lux said.
Her mother, Jen Straub, posted on her Facebook page that she would withdraw her daughter because she was unhappy with the school’s response to her complaint.
Straub did not return a message left for her by the Post-Tribune on her Facebook account.
Lux said that while Straub said her daughter was about to be dragged into a bathroom when her friend aided “in her escape,” there was no bathroom in that area.
The students crossed paths in the hall directly outside the main office.
The student did not report what happened to school officials immediately.
“The comment was inappropriate,” Lux said. “We do not condone it and we do not ignore it.”
