School officials in South Hadley have reneged on their promise to divulge punishments dished out to the students responsible for the bullying inflicted on 15-year-old Irish girl, Phoebe Prince, who took her own life in January.
Officials refused to provide any details about the school investigation.
The school's superintendent, Gus Sayer, read out a two-page press release at the meeting on Thursday that provided little information about the harassment that Prince endured before her death.
“Neither Phoebe, nor her family, nor any other students reported these incidents to school staff,” he said.
“By not divulging the discipline given to anonymous students, they are giving the impression no discipline has been given,” said angry South Hadley resident Donna Tower.
“When you’re keeping the names of the students anonymous, why can’t you talk about their discipline?”
Northwestern District Attorney Elizabeth Scheibel warned that a lot of wrong information has been spread since Prince's suicide on January 14.
“There is a lot of speculation and a lot of discussion around Phoebe’s death - and a lot of misinformation, frankly,” Scheibel told the Boston Herald.
“We need to separate out what is fact and what is not fact, and investigators continue to do that.”
Sayer did say that disciplinary hearings were being scheduled to deal with the bullies.
“Each will face the most serious consequences, which can include long-term suspension or expulsion and referral to the police for further investigation,” Sayer said.
Phoebe, who was born in Bedford, England but moved to Co. Clare when she was two, spent most of her life there.
Last summer Phoebe relocated to South Hadley with her mother, Anne O’Brien-Prince, and sisters Lauren, Tessa and Bridget and brother Simon, so she could, according to her family, “experience America and be near her family in Massachusetts.”
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