Court master blasts principal's handling of racial attack

Eric Hartley:

Meade High School administrators botched their investigation of a racially motivated attack at the school in January, failing to protect the victim from a severe beating and hampering the prosecution of the lone student charged, a Circuit Court master said yesterday.

Master Erica J. Wolfe, a judicial officer who oversees juvenile and family cases, said she felt bad for the victim but had no choice in issuing an acquittal.

Before announcing the verdict, she criticized Meade Principal Joan A. Valentine and other school officials in a blistering speech, calling their documentation of the fight - including written statements from witnesses that didn't have the witnesses' names - "virtually useless."

The 17-year-old Meade senior, who is white, was ambushed as he walked down a school hallway during a break in exams, prosecutors said. He was beaten badly, suffering 13 knots on his head.

A group of 10 to 15 African-American students surrounded the Meade High School senior, many jumping up and down and chanting, "White boy, white boy, I go!" before several started punching him, a prosecutor said.

The attack appeared to be random.

Assistant State's Attorney Michael Bergeson said Principal Valentine refused to give him the names of those witnesses until she was ordered to on Tuesday by Master Wolfe.

Mr. Bergeson, a longtime juvenile court prosecutor, said he'd never before had a school official refuse to give him names of witnesses.

"The investigation conducted in this matter was appalling," Master Wolfe said. "It is inconceivable to me that anybody who has the responsibility for pursuing this would accept a document that's undated, unnamed, unsigned. The lack of common sense is utterly appalling.

"The school fails him in not protecting him from the fight in the first place and fails him again in not pursuing it properly," she said. "That's an indictment of the school."

Ms. Valentine and Assistant Principal Bonita Sims, who conducted the investigation, couldn't be reached for comment.

A reporter asking for Ms. Valentine at the school this morning was told she would have no comment.

A receptionist said school system officials told Meade staff to direct all inquiries to school headquarters.

Schools Superintendent Eric J. Smith said last night he hadn't heard about the case, but will look into it.

"Any time there's a concern raised by the courts, we certainly will take that very seriously," Dr. Smith said. "I have a lot of respect for Joan Valentine. I feel she runs a good school. She's done a good job in moving Meade High School forward."

Ms. Valentine, Ms. Sims and the school system official who signed off on their investigation are all African American, prosecutors noted. Mr. Bergeson said the victim testified racially tinged fights aren't unusual at Meade.

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Our say: Schools must take hard look at Meade principal's actions