Marna called the superintendent's office and talked to his secretary and explained to her what had been going on. The secretary was very concerned and made an appointment for Marna to sit down with the superintendent and the assistant superintendent; the assistant superintendent is over the anti-bully program.
The appointment was made for the very next day. As soon as Marna went into the meeting, they told her that as soon as they heard what had been happening they called the principal to verify everything. The superintendent said that what has been going on is not okay and her son should feel safe at school. They said they were going to hire somebody to make sure that Beckham is never touched again. They wanted to make sure that he was supervised before, during, and after lunch as well as at all recesses. They said they were also going to have a volunteer sit in class with him the remainder of the year to make sure he does not get bullied anymore. They wanted to make sure that Beckham knew school was a safe place to go and that what had been happening to him was absolutely not acceptable. At one point during the meeting the superintendent had to take a phone call. After it ended, it was revealed to Marna that there are 50 bullying incidences that happen in a week. She was shocked to hear this and concluded that something in the system needs to be changed.
The assistant superintendent continued to meet with Marna, because the superintendent had another meeting to attend. She was very please with the way the meeting had turned out. She felt like somebody finally took the situation seriously and that someone really cared. Now she just needed to wait and see if everything would be fulfilled the way she was told it would be.
She was also still concerned with the lack of punishment up to this point and wanted to make sure that this was addressed. She felt that if it wasn't addressed, it would just continue to happen over and over and over. She needed to make sure that everybody knew this was serious, that it was not a first-time offense, that it was not okay, and that she would not allow it to happen again. She was heartbroken that it took her going this far for the principal to realize how serious the situation really was. She meant business. Not just for her child, but for all the other children that this has and is happening to.
After meeting with superintendent and assistant superintendent, Marna felt more confused than ever. Why did it only take one phone call to the superintendent's office before someone took some serious action? She hadn't even spoken to the superintendent, she had only spoken to the secretary. The superintendent took the information from the secretary, called the principal to verify the situation, and felt he needed to hire someone to make Beckham safe at school. Why didn't the principal feel inclined to do anything more then issue two recess suspensions as punishment to the bully? Marna hadn't even made it into the superintendent's office and he already had a plan set up.
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