Review Bainbridge Island
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2013 | Vol. 113, No. 32 | www.BAINBRIDGEREVIEW.com | 75¢
Court records detail assaults of special needs teen
October surprise
Bainbridge school district ordered to pay $300K to family BY BRIAN KELLY
Bainbridge Island Review
Luciano Marano | Bainbridge Island Review
Matilda Sykes grimaces as she pulls the guts and seeds out of her chosen pumpkin at the free pumpkin carving event hosted by Cub Scout Pack 4545 and sponsored by William Renton Lodge No. 29 Saturday, Oct. 26. The Cub Scouts gutted and prepared 84 pumpkins, provided by the lodge, for guests to choose from and carve themselves. Manning various stations each assigned with a specific job, the scouts took turns cutting the tops off of the pumpkins and emptying them out for their guests. Cub Scout Remington Brown voiced the opinion that there are faster ways to empty that many pumpkins than simply by hand. He claimed that using dynamite would be more efficient, but admitted that, “It’s very hard to find dynamite these days.”
Buetow, Roth square off for Bainbridge council seat BY CECILIA GARZA Bainbridge Island Review
Voters will recognize one candidate in the running for the Central Ward seat on the Bainbridge Island City Council. The other you might not know, but perhaps that’s to his fortune. Wayne Roth and Arlene Buetow are running for the Central Ward, Position 5 seat on the Bainbridge Island City
Council. Buetow, 56, has worked with the city in various capacities for the past 21 years. She has been on the city’s Utility Advisory Committee since 2009 and is the current chairwoman. She describes this dedication to the community as a defining component of her campaign for city council. While Roth, 70, has not spent the last 20 years working closely with
the city government, his background brings an altogether fresh perspective. Roth has worked in public media for about 40 years and the last 30 years as the president and general manager of KUOW Public Radio. In addition, he has served three terms on the National Public Radio Board of Directors and two years as chairman. turn to council | A11
A Kitsap County Superior Court judge has ordered the Bainbridge Island School District to pay $300,000 to a Bainbridge family after their 14-year-old special needs son was bullied and sexually harassed by other teens at Bainbridge High School and school officials did little to stop the near-constant assaults. Thomas Vertetis, the attorney who filed a lawsuit against the school district on behalf of the student and his family, said the 14-year-old was tormented by his Bainbridge High schoolmates for a fourmonth period that started in the teen’s freshman year and continued until January 2007, despite the repeated attempts from his parents to get school officials to take action against four other teenagers who were targeting their son. Vertetis said the victim’s mother went to the vice principal at the school at least three times about the attacks. “She kind of got the proverbial, ‘Yeah, we’ll look into it,’” Vertetis said. There were numerous witnesses of the bullying throughout the school, he added. “There was so much evidence that this kid was getting
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bullied and they just ignored it,” Vertetis said of school officials.
More than 75 incidents In court documents, Vertetis said the teenager was subjected to more than 75 incidents of “pervasive sexualized assault, harassment, abuse and bullying.” Vertetis said school officials at BHS “were repeatedly notified of the abuse and systematically failed to take any effort to stop it from occurring.” Jan Webster, the student’s mother, made repeated requests for officials to do something, as did the teen’s health sciences teacher. Vertetis said the teenager — who was diagnosed with autism (Asperger syndrome) was forced to leave Bainbridge High and enrolled at an alternative high school in Renton. Officials with the Bainbridge Island School District have turned down repeated requests to comment on the case. In a statement, the district said: “We deeply regret the situation that occurred in the 2006-2007 school year that led to this verdict.” “After the incident seven years ago, the Bainbridge Island School District updated policies and procedures in regards to harassment, intimidation and bullying. In addition, staff and students receive turn to lawsuit | A10