A suburban student with a disability was apparently shoved and bullied by other students during an altercation that was captured on video, officials say.
NBC 5 has seen the video, but has not yet secured permission to share the footage.
The clip, which has made the rounds on social media, shows the student being pushed to the ground in the boys’ bathroom at York High School in suburban Elmhurst.
In a letter to parents, the school’s superintendent described the events depicted in the video as “an aggressive physical altercation by a student toward another student with a disability, while a group of bystanders watched and laughed.”
At one point in the video, the student retreats into a bathroom stall and closes the door.
“Such behaviors are not tolerated,” the letter read. “Students involved in the situation were interviewed and significant school consequences were issued.”
After the footage was published, an outraged student started a Change.Org petition, denouncing what happened and calling for dramatic changes.
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“We, the students of York, feel compelled for immediate, radical change for the better, with appropriate consequences,” the petition said. “We are hoping the administration recognizes the situation, and finds a consequence fitting as such. We are sick and tired of this mistreatment.”
The district says that interviews are being conducted and an investigation is underway.
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“Interviews and tips will continue to be fully examined to ensure a full understanding of all details pertaining to this incident, including the moments before and after what is seen in the video,” the district’s statement read, in part.
School officials also say that police have been in contact with the student’s parents.
