Jill Seppala, the mother of a student who allegedly was assaulted last week at Negaunee High School, speaks about the incident Monday at the Negaunee Board of Education meeting. The matter still is under investigation. (Journal photo by Christie Bleck)

NEGAUNEE — The Negaunee Public Schools Board of Education on Monday heard from the parents of a student allegedly assaulted Wednesday at the high school, as well as from concerned members of the community.

Negaunee Superintendent Dan Skewis spoke about the issue before the start of the school board meeting.

Although he didn’t disclose details of the alleged assault because it’s still under investigation, he acknowledged the incident involved two male students in a locker room at the high school during first hour.

Such an incident is uncommon in the district, he said.

The student who was accused of assaulting the other student has been removed from the building and hasn’t been allowed back since, he said, and the district’s protocol for such an incident is being followed.

“We’re continuing to follow that process with a board decision later this week on what the consequence will be,” Skewis said.

A disciplinary hearing on the matter will take place at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the high school.

Until then, the student accused of assault will not be permitted in school until the board has made that decision, Skewis said.

He said that following the incident, the student who committed the alleged assault was removed and police were contacted. After the police file a report to him, he will forward that information to the school board and the investigation will continue.

Skewis also discussed the matter during the regular board meeting.

He said board policy dictates it shall suspend or expel a student in grade 6 or above for up to 180 school days if the student physically assaults another student.

This policy, he pointed out, follows state law.

“Our No. 1 goal, as it is with every school district around us, is to keep our students safe,” Skewis said. “We take all students’ assaults seriously and hope we don’t have to deal with anything like this in the future.”

The mother of the student who was allegedly attacked, Jill Seppala, addressed the board, as did her husband, Brad.

She expressed concern that much was being said about the student who assaulted her son, but not a lot was being said about the boy who she said conspired with him and took video of the incident.

“I think his punishment needs to be seriously considered as serious as the boy that actually swung and hit my son,” Jill Seppala said.

She also told the board her son had been the victim of bullying for many years, which was the reason he was home-schooled in sixth and seventh grades.

“He’s learned better ways to handle situations,” Jill Seppala said.

However, she doesn’t believe verbal bullying has been handled enough in the schools, and that leads to physical assaults.

She said some of the boys in the locker room who didn’t step in have reached out to her son, and some of their mothers have apologized to her.

“A big reason why some of the kids didn’t do anything — I’m not sure why in their mind they thought they just couldn’t even run out and get help — but the first thing that the kids thought was, ‘I can’t jump into this and try to separate it. I can’t get myself involved,’ because to them, in school, a fight is a fight,” Jill Seppala said.

In fact, one boy told her he was afraid to get involved because he was concerned he would get into trouble, she said.

Her husband, Brad Seppala, stressed the incident went beyond a schoolyard physical scuffle.

“That’s not what this was,” he said, calling it a premeditated assault and a “harsh and malicious” attack. “This has got to be treated differently.”

One of the community members who spoke to the board was Michelle Judd, a resident of Negaunee Township with children in the school district.

Judd said her family has had “nothing but a positive experience” in the district.

However, she said her daughter came home from school and displayed to her a video on social media that showed the alleged assault.

She expressed concern that anti-bullying efforts are falling short.

“None of what happened before Wednesday matters, in my opinion,” Judd said. “It doesn’t matter who bullied who, how long it’s been going on.

“I saw that video and I was physically ill, and my daughter was physically ill, and I said to her, ‘What are you going to do to help?'”

Judd said she worked with her daughter to find positive ways she could help.

“What I saw happen is absolutely assault. Period,” Judd said. “That kid got blasted in the head. The kid who did it planted his feet and pounded his head into that locker five times. I heard it. It was disgusting.

“All the other kids looked the other way and walked away, or laughed, or made some horrid comment about what just happened.”

She said the matter should be handled from the proper legal, civil, criminal and school perspectives.

“What are we doing to help our kids not get to that point,” Judd said, “and when it does happen, do we have the right policy in place to make sure it never happens again? Because the next situation might be a whole lot worse.”

Christie Bleck can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 250. Her email address is cbleck@miningjournal.net.