by Matt Marquardt –
MASON CITY – A mother and daughter are suing the Mason City School District after a troubling year at the high school.
Heather Conti and her daughter, Angelina Conti, are co-plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed this month in Cerro Gordo County district court that alleges gross negligence by the Mason City school district. The lawsuit stems from what the Conti’s describe as an on-going bullying saga that started in 2010 and lasted through the Spring of 2011.
(PHOTO: Heather Conti leans on a tree in her front yard on Mason City’s south side, describing the ordeal her daughter suffered through at the hands of classmates. The family’s house is for sale. They want to move out of town and pull their 13 year-old son, Nick, out of the Mason City Schools due to concerns about bullying and the general atmosphere in the school system.)
Angelina, then a sophomore at Mason City High School, had just moved to Mason City from Texas with her family. According to her mother, Heather, and her father, Andrew, everything was fine at her new school in the beginning. “We had no problems, everything was just fine,” Andrew said. Angelina, who could be described as the “new girl” at the school, had made the volleyball team right away and seemed to be enjoying school, her parents said. They described Angelina as a happy teen, attractive, athletic, even a dirt bike champion back in Texas.
Then, that October, Angelina was riding in a car with a friend. They were out toilet-papering houses as some teens do during the fall months in Mason City. The boy driving the car lost control of the vehicle while adjusting an iPod and slammed into a pole next to the road. Angelina was not wearing a seat belt, and she was propelled into the windshield, face first. Angelina’s left knee was also injured in the accident.
Angelina needed facial reconstruction surgery. “The doctors did a great job,” Andrew said.
(PHOTO: Angelina, today, on left. On the right, Angelina immediately after car accident. Photos used with permission of parents.)
But upon her return to school after the accident, Angelina noticed a change in several of her classmates. “They started in right away,” Heather said. Angelina was about to undergo the surgeries to help repair scarring and damage from the accident. Some students, the lawsuit alleges, began to pick up on Angelina’s appearance and proceeded to bully, harass and intimidate her at school.
Names such as “scarface” were muttered in hallways and classrooms. She was also called a “whore” due to the perceived circumstances by students of the car accident.
The Contis claim that they met with school officials early on, starting in the Fall of 2010, and as the bullying escalated “through verbal and physical acts.”
“They pretty much did nothing, were never prepared for our meetings,” Andrew and Heather said. “She was in a class with some of the girls. They were on her in that class, which she was never pulled out of.”
The bullies, the Contis said, were led by a “former friend.” Other female classmates were involved.
(PHOTO: Andrew Conti stands in his front yard, describing how he and his wife, Heather, attempted to pry their daughter, Angelina, out of a cycle of bullying at the hands of classmates while working through the Mason City School District.)
The bullying at school spread to Facebook and threats of violence in the Spring of 2011. The lawsuit states that a video was posted to Facebook, where some female classmates threatened violence against Angelina.
The Contis continued to complain to the school district, but nothing was done, the lawsuit alleges. Even after text messages and a phone call which threatened violence, the school district did nothing. Not even police involvement and a harassment charge deterred the abuse.
The only way the Contis could stop the bullying cycle and protect Angelina, Heather and Andy say, was to pull her out of Mason City High School and open-enroll her elsewhere. Angelina just completed her Junior year at Central Springs High School in Manly, where the Contis say “everything went great, just fine. She is very happy there.”
The Contis said that the Mason City School District made the open enrollment “more difficult than it had to be. There were conditions that slowed it down. They wanted to keep the state dollars and not let it go to Manly.”
School districts receive funding from the state level for each student that attends. If a student leaves the district, theoretically, the state dollars follow the student.
School Superintendent Anita Micich said today in a phone interview that “the dollars must follow that child (to the new district they will attend), that is a state law.”
Micich said that she would compare the level of bullying in Mason City Schools to other similar-sized school districts. She also said that any child that is facing a bullying situation can go to any adult at their school and let that adult know. That school employee is trained to bring the child’s concern to the proper school official so that it can be followed through and investigated.
“We never want to see something like this,” Micich said. “We are continuing to work to bring the best service possible to our students.”
The Conti’s lawsuit requests a jury trial. They are represented by Vance Jorgensen of Mason City and Colin Murphy of Clear Lake.
http://qctimes.com/news/local/low-reports-of-school-bullying-questioned/article_d890435c-94a3-11e0-95bd-001cc4c002e0.html
i knew this girl i can tell u she went to the counsler asap./wreseling coach and nothing at all was done except thay cared nothing about her it was a joke,i felt like crap just knowing some of the a holes.I saw her mother there also crying think the bus monator made people mad and cry that was bullied this was just as bad but no one saw it.I did and defending the counsler she went to shows just how corrupt that system realy is.dont rock the boat because thay are above the law.GOOD LUCK CONTIS.IM Sorry ange was my friend…http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/?podcast_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.podtrac.com%2Fpts%2Fredirect.mp3%2Fnyc.podcast.play.it%2Fmedia%2Fd0%2Fd0%2Fd1%2Fd0%2FdT%2FdI%2FdR%2F10TIR_3.MP3%3Fauthtok%3D5561816128166450025_ZTtFowyplw2KmfQu5v3Ch6PAgZc&podcast_name=Girl+and+mom+suing+school+district+over+bullying&podcast_artist=Jordanna+Green&station_id=91&tag&dcid=CBS.MINN
correction:
they not thay
monitor not monator
wrestling not wreseling
sorry reading your post was difficult try using your cell phone most have spell check.
I’m not going to get into this very much. But, I was reading some of the comments and was disgusted by the way some people were saying how horrible the employees in the school district are. I know I could go to any one of the teachers if I was being bullied and they would do anything in their power to help. Again. Anything IN THEIR POWER. I realize with this case it may not look like it, but I don’t know if you have realized this or not, the school doesn’t have that much money. We have to deal with large classes because of the teacher cuts. Please quit degrading the teachers unless you have been taught by them. The only person you should be attacking is the dean of students.
Seems like parents blowing a normal occurance out of proportion in order to make some easy financial gains of unaware iowans’ tax dollars- maybe the scheme didnt work in Texas….
Should this be a “normal” occurance??? It has become normal in Mason City Schools and time for it to STOP!!! Is it normal for our kids to be sent to a “safe” place for learning to be beat in the ground to the point of not wanting to live? These administrators today don’t want to be bothered or make waves in a system that is not working. How many students have experienced this and have transferred out of this school? Your ignorance to this is obvious.
Im still not sure why the car accident photos are pertinent to this story in particular, other than for north iowa “today” to capture an emotional outrage response from readers who decide to not read the entire story… Bullying is inherent in schools- learn to deal with it or learn to become a victim your whole life. The world isnt gonna hold your hand and kiss your boo boos when you face conflict. It is unfortunate that parents today havent readied their children for the harsh realities of life, nor taught them proper coping skills to deal with them when they arise. Shame on the parents for bad parenting. Shame on the school administration for not intervening, in order to save face, when counselors brought this to their attention in the first place. And shame again on the bad parents of the bullies for not teaching their kids basic respect. An unfortunate incident for the girl, but has become way too much of a story. Lets not repeat the BS lifetime “whoa is me” story of Heather Wright in this situation.
This will likely go unread, but I happened to come across this thread. How was Heather Wright’s story a “whoa is me”? She was raped and then taunted by her classmates at Mason City High School! Granted, any Lifetime portrayal of a true story will always have its quirks, but the bottom line is that Mason City High School is not new to bullying students and looking the other way. Clearly the school has not learned its lesson, even after Tiffany and David made them infamous!
I bet when Mason City School District school officials, teachers, principals, superintendants, etc.. start going to prison for child
neglect/abuse and perhaps a host of other charges, the bullying problem will come to an end in that district.
Understood thank you!ITs hard when u get people that act like the bullies in school i see where it comes from…
Yes, some of these people were obviously bullies themselves back in the day. The haters don’t even deserve a response. You and your daughter keep your chins up and rise above all this bs. Best of luck to you.
just an fyi- even though u r not suing for the money, in your last comment about the loan u took out, the lawyers are gonna run with that so you should try to find a way to delete it! prayers to your family
Sad situation…kids have always been awful, but seem to be even worse than when I was in school.
A little word of advice for the Contis – You should definitely STOP commenting on here! First of all, you’ll get nowhere with some of these idiots. Second, I’m sure the attorney for the school district will be trying to dig up anything and everything he/she can on your family. Now more than ever social media garbage such as this is used in the courtroom by one side against the other. Stop talking! I completely understand the desire to defend yourselves, but take the high road until this is all over with…and just tell them all “no comment!”
As said before this should never have gotten this far …it was reported and measures should have been done by Mason city high school authorities…this has to stop . There are scars being left on these children . My son stood up to a bully ..and finding out though the super of the school this bully was well capable of violence …I am for the parents law suit …more parents need to pay attention to what their children are worried about …please make sure you talk to your children keeping your communication with them …remember it’s not about you …it’s your children …good luck to the family !
That is some of the best advice I have ever read on here and its so simple someone should make it a billboard. I’m not much of a fan of the anti-bullying ads simply because I feel parents much like the Contis should always have their nose in their kids business but great advice!
I,m not allowed to comment on my case but.I will tell this person that thinks we are in This for Quick Buck!Is Very DELUSONAL!!!We just finished remodeling our entire Home you clown everything new top to bottom I had to get a 30.000.00 dollar loan to finish it.and im selling commerical property in texas that was my wife and my retirement.TO pay for this lawsuit you IDIOT.theres a old camper im fixing that we may have to live in.feel good now you jerk.Im realy glad that if u have loved ones that go to school here will never have to go through what my daughter did.Its not the childs fault if thay come from crap but we can show them a better way.and fix this broken system.Thank you everyone else for the support thats all we want not your money we will take care of that!!!!!!!!
Gma Jean
This is a family looking for a quick buck??? R u fu#king kidding me! The girl was really asking to get bullied and harassed..huh? If the school was doing their job they wouldn’t have to del with a lawsuit. Hopefully ur granddaughter won’t ever go threw an ordeal like this. Its people like u that think this way. Yeah I bet it was so much easier for her start at a new school and to have her being bullied for the public to see… worth a settlement …I think not
This is just a case of a family looking for a quick buck.
Kind of like the Kropfs?
Isn’t there a social and emotional coach that gets paid to handle situations like this at the school by the name of ms osier? And also a school counselor? If I had a lawsuit on the school ..it would also be against the individuals that didn’t do anything about it..including the parents
That school employee was working at JAMS at this time, not the HS….prob doesnt even know this student.
What do they do to them?
How about all those teachers that bully students in the high school. I know many from the English, Science, History & Music department that are hard on kids.
Being “hard on kids” is what teachers are supposed to do. That’s not bullying.
Teachers being “hard’ on kids isn’t bullying. It called having standards and making the kids try their best to reach those standards. Do you really think teachers should be easy on the students? Why? That just lets the slackers be slackers….and that will carry over to their adult lives. Bullying is much more than being hard on someone. It is repeated tactics that cause anxiety, stress or physical and/or mental harm to someone.
It is too bad about this young person’s problems with the other kids at MCHS. Maybe just Maybe kind of made me think she brought some of it on, but the 10:10 post from anonymous made me re-think what I felt and it embarrassed me. I was ready to believe MJM’s claim without verification. That shows me what is really at the core of the bullying problem – people who believe what they hear and not what they see or experience first hand. I fell for it. Sorry Contis. Next time I hope I am smarter.
I don’t know what schools should do. It’s a tough situation. What are schools supposed to do with all these rotten kids who have rotten parents? It’s a cultural problem really. How will it get better?
This is such a tragic story. Shame on MC High School for turning their heads and doing nothing. Over and over again we read stories like this in the papers, everyone has heard about these stories and yet you are telling me that these adults that work at this school are ignoring this?!! If I had children in this school, I would seriously consider going to the school board and start asking ALOT of questions and ask for accountability in these so called adults that are supposed to be here for the children. Come on people wake up!!!!!!
I just want to mention something that happened back in the 80’s. My daughter was being bullied at Madison Elementary School. She finally worked up the courage to tell me about it and I scheduled a meeting with the principal, Mr. Bailey. It was IMMEDIATELY dealt with and stopped! To this day I have nothing but respect for Mr. Bailey and the teachers from Madison Elementary. They were the greatest!! It CAN be stopped if the school refuses to tolerate it.
The recent comment “Maybe Just Maybe” saying that the victim sent a picture of her “chest” is a rumor that was started from the girls/boys from her school. If anyone knows the victim personally they know she would not do any sort of thing. If you read in the article it talks about how the bullies wrote whore on the victims car window. It seems they used anything to harass her. Restating rumors is not the way to go. Also, if anyone knew the victim she is a sweetheart, calling someone poor is not in the dictionary for her. Anyone that is in need she will help even if she doesn’t have the money etc.. To help. The family is doing the right thing. Stop bullying an speak up.
To Maybe just Maybe,
In posting your comments regarding the alleged actions of the victim prior to the accident you are engaging in cyber-bullying yourself (cyber-harrassment if you are an adult.)
If what “Maybe just maybe” is saying is true, I don’t see how that can be cyber-harrassment. To the best of my knowledge, if something that is said is true, it 1) meets the constitution’s free speech clause, and 2) does not enter into the realm of slander/libel. If I am wrong in these assertions, please inform me.
Cyber-harrassment: behavior by a person or group using mobile or Internet technology with the intent to bother, terrify, intimidate, humiliate, threaten, harass or stalk someone else.
Cyber-bullying: when a child, preteen or teen is tormented, threatened, harassed, humiliated, embarrassed or otherwise targeted by another child, preteen or teen using the Internet, interactive and digital technologies or mobile phones.
Whether true or not, there is no need to include details that would “humiliate” or “embarrass” the victim.
Like I said down below if she did indeed send a picture of her chest, anyone who received and sent this text (which could be traced) could and in my opinion should all be charged with child pornography. I wonder if they realize the harassment that they would receive in the future because once on the record it will always be on the record.
They do not have training for these types of issues it is so sad. M/C claims a 2% builling in there schools. The national average is 30%. They do not log any bulling reports. So they can get extra money. The news paper told me many school employees make over 100.000.00 a year from m/c. Their school is ran like a corporation the dollar is what counts to them!! And we will spend the last dollar we have fighting for whats right so this wont happen to someone elses child its not just the child that suffers. Holding my daughters hand in Mercy Hospital praying to god that she will make it through the nite has aged my wife and I alot to say it mildly. All it took was one ADULT, one administrator, one councelor to listen to our comlaints our emails our going up too school BUT NOTHING NO ONE THERE CARES… THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH FOR THE POSITIVE RESPONSES.
“Many” school employees make 6 figures?? NO! There are maybe 4 and they are administrators! School staff who typically learn of bullying in schools is specifically told to let administrators know, and they will handle it. Counselors can speak up and advocate for students but it up to the adminstrators to follow through. Students really need to be taught the difference between teasing and bullying. This young lady was bullied and her parents did the right thing by being persistent…but please get your facts straight…dont blame the counselors and other staff who are told daily by MANY students that they are bullied. The word ” bullied” is thrown around so casually now….by parents and students. It blowd my mind how people on here can bash school counselors and staff…but yet you expect everything from them when it is convenient for you all….understand that these people can only do so much and then it is out of their hands and left up to those FEW 6 figure school employees to sort it out…and only 2 or so of these people work in the schools…the rest are at the admin building! Know that MC teachers and counselors are doing their absolute best to meet the needs of all students! I would suggest any parent concerned…you should go observe students for a day and see the crap staff has thrown their way all day, everyday…with the majority of it coming from parents! I truly feel for ythis girl, however people get called names everyday and we should be teaching our kids how to deal with it! Also, kids are ALOT different when they walk through school foors then they may be at home.
“Many” school employees make 6 figures?? NO! There are maybe 4 and they are administrators! School staff who typically learn of bullying in schools is specifically told to let administrators know, and they will handle it. Counselors can speak up and advocate for students but it up to the adminstrators to follow through. Students really need to be taught the difference between teasing and bullying. I would like to quote that. It is reported to these officials yet they do NOT report it any further nor do they handle the situation. I recall Mr Phillips a Roosevelt counselor who gave out his home number to help famlies in need. These counselors could care less and point fingers at each other to who should be taken care of situatoins. You want to say deal with it… I think not…. MCHS get a grip and you deal with it. STOP pointing the blame at each other and get your program together…
I understand you are angry about what happened to your daughter….but, are you kidding me??? There are plenty of mc school employees who care! My daughter went to Jams 8 this year and there are 2 female staff members who went out of there way to help her! The community is damaging our schools…not the employees!
The counselors that I have had the “privilege” of dealing with do nothing more than tell you they will look into it, and then brush it under the rug! In 2 years I went into the office almost once a week trying to get the issues I was having with my daughter’s education addressed and every time I went in I was told they had “forgot” or that they passed it on to someone else to handle. Multiple messages left were NEVER returned to all of the administrators! MC needs to understand that there are holes in their system that need to be fixed!
Apparently MCHS is seriously lacking in “adults”. This student and her parents repeatedly spoke with several “adults” at the school, as is advised by the superintendent in the article. Nothing was done about the situation. They didn’t even do what was required by law. The “proper school official” did no investigation. I second your BS, former mason city student.
As a well informed source, I can guarantee there has been no “official training” in the past 10-15 years. It takes an unfortunate incident like this to bring this serious issue to the forefront. If you recall, the H. Wright case brought this same issue to the forefront in the 90’s! I believe this is the last time that school employees were given “official training” so that means many of the new employees since then have no idea of procedures!! If you start researching this serious issue of bullying, you will be alarmed at the national statisics in regards to bullying, student absences, and unfortunately even suicide rates. Please take this issue very seriously as it is probably evident in every school district somehow. Every student needs to know they can feel safe and protected each day they walk through those school doors!!
This is a sad but hopefully eye opening for the district and the community!! Mason City school systems are terrible about these things. If you are not from a family of money, they don’t want to hear it. My child was bullied and teased constantly for being in a class for his disability. What did they do? Yes, nothing at all. These things happen at this age I was told. The best thing we did was move him out of the district and into a private christian school. Yes, this does happen there too, but the principal will not tolerate it at all.(I’m not referring to the private school in MC, that one it’s all about money and your last name).
If your child was bullied due to a disability and the school district did nothing, then you may be able to file a federal civil rights complaint against the school district. MCHS receives federal funds and is therefore required to comply with federal civil rights laws. Discrimination based on disability is a violation of your child’s civil rights.
See this website: http://www.stopbullying.gov/laws/federal/index.html
THANK EVERYONE FOR The support! I hope everyone understands I can not comment on the case.WE will not stop and matt will show you just how broken there system realy is.please stay tuned to north iowa today.and please find a safe place to put your children in school.THANK YOU ALL AGAIN FROM THE CONTIS..
I feel for this family. We too have endured a situation with bullying within our home with students from the District. Very sad situation. What you have to remember is that the affects of bullying don’t stop in the victim’s mind. They continue on for years to come, even with counseling. Schools need to be held accountable for the actions they dismiss from taking. Hopefully counseling has been implemented in this situation for their daughter. Our State laws need to protect our children and districts across the state need to be penalized dollar wise when action isn’t taken. Prayers to your family and healthy healing to your beautiful daughter.
Wouldn’t be the first time MCHS was sued…Where do these school officals come from? Everyone knows MCHS anti-bullying policy is a joke…you would think they would learn from the 90’s.
I wish I could “like” that statement. MCHS’ lack of interest in bullying nearly cost my younger brother his life while he attended school there.
Remember the olden days when we used to get grades in “deportment”? Maybe the schools need to bring this grade back so these bullies will think twice before having an F show up on their transcripts that are submitted to colleges. And maybe this would be a wake-up call to parents that they are doing a lousy job.
Don’t bother Micich with this trivial non-sense. She’s busy trying to get a raise for herself and milk more tax money from the locals.
I feel so badly for this family. I hope this lawsuit makes the school officials in Mason City realize that it’s NOT okay for this type of behavior. The kids that were the ones doing the bullying should have been kicked out of the school long before it got to this point.
As taken from the story text, any adult employee is “trained” to bring the child’s concern to the proper school official. In this case, who is the proper school official? It seems to me that the proper school official, Micich, was notified, and from the story, really did nothing. This is really a shame for the school to do nothing. There have been reports in the past that schools have been given state money for training to combat this sort of thing. So did anyone learn anything, if not, why. Did the money even get used for traing? Were the perps even confronted by school officials? I’m glad to see that Angelina is doing good, it could have ended tragically. Shame, Shame, MCHS….
Sue the little shit that was text-driving, sue the school the school district and don’t think moving to a smaller town in the area is necessarily gonna help. She’s a pretty girl compared to most of the “corn fed” females up there and jealousy prevails. What possessed ya to move to Iowa anyway? Having women anywhere but in class rooms is ridiculous when men can’t even seem to control this bunch of idiots we’re raising in this country, thanks to liberals and Iowa is infested with ’em!
Yeah, I agree. I would sue the driver, it sounds like the “harassment” started after that situation.
I guess she may have been called names after her accident. But im pretty sure that it started long before that. Could have been when she sent a picture of her “chest” to one of the boys in class. We all can imagine how that turned out. Or maybe it started after she started calling other classmates and friends “poor”, because their parents didnt buy them a car, like hers had. I certainly am not condoning the things that were said or done to this girl, and I think that MC Schools, who claim they have a zero tolerance policy, do a pretty crappy job of following up on situations such as this. I do hope that they have to explain how things turned out so crappy for this child, and pay monetarily, since the couldnt take the time to pay attention
@ Maybe just Maybe, Since you obviously know about some picture that was supposedly sent then her family should go after your son/daughter and all others who continued to send it. I believe that is called possession of child pornography. Every child does and says hurtful things but there is a point of taking it too far.
I’m calling BS on the superintendent’s statement about going to an adult that is all
No child should have to go though this ..glad to see there is family that will not take it. !!