Patricia Lampron, leader of the Henderson K-12 School in Dorchester, is recovering at home this week after she was violently attacked by a 9th grade student outside the school on Wednesday – apparently in full view of several young elementary students – following a confrontation that left the principal knocked unconscious and rushed to a hospital.

The situation is one that is immediately a criminal matter and a school safety matter, but is also a byproduct of a decision to remove police from public school buildings, according to some critics.

“The attack at the Henderson school is the culmination of a safety crisis that exists at the school and across the district,” said state Senator Nick Collins. “We need to protect our public servants and make sure our students are in a safe place to learn. That means ensuring a baseline of health and safety that is currently lacking in our schools. These incidents highlight the reason why the ability for school police officers to be present in schools remains preserved under the law.”

Wednesday’s assault happened outside of the school building on Croftland Avenue. The 16-year-old female student charged with the attack was arraigned in Juvenile Court. Her name has not been made public because she is a juvenile. She has been charged with assault and battery on a person over age 60 or disabled resulting in serious bodily injury, assault and battery causing serious bodily injury and assault and battery on a public employee. She was released on $5,000 bail with stay-away order conditions. The teen was also charged with assaulting another Boston Public Schools employee.

The incident unfolded at approximately 2:30 p.m. on Nov. 3, during dismissal time for younger grades at the Upper campus. According to an account from the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, Lampron approached the teen and instructed her to leave the area of the school.

The teen allegedly grabbed Lampron’s hair and struck her in the head and face repeatedly with a closed fist. Lampron fell to the ground and was rendered unconscious for several minutes. School safety officers detained the teen until the Boston Police arrived and other school personnel tended to Lampron until she was transported by Boston EMS to Brigham and Women’s Hospital for treatment of her injuries.

Sources tell the Reporter that Lampron has recently had a police detail outside of her Dorchester home due to threats of violence directed at her. Boston Police did not immediately confirm that.

The Henderson School was closed all day Thursday, and BPS Superintendent Brenda Cassellius ordered the school closed down on Friday as well – with students expected to return on Monday.

“This violent behavior will not be tolerated,” said Cassellius in a message to Henderson parents. “The health, safety and well-being of our students and staff is our top priority at Boston Public Schools. I am personally involved and am ensuring we are taking immediate and swift action.”
Suffolk County DA Rachael Rollins said the juvenile charged with the attack will be prosecuted, and it comes at a time when educators in other districts, such as in Lawrence, have raised issues with safety. She also said there is a nationwide problem of attacking teachers in school and broadcasting it on the TikTok social media platform, though that isn’t suspected in this incident.

“This frightening attack comes amid a rise in violence and aggression against educators and school employees,” said Rollins.

The Henderson is a full inclusion school located on two campuses in Dorchester. Students in K0-1 go to the Lower School on Dorchester Avenue, which is the former Patrick O’Hearn School. Students in grades 2-12 attend classes in a building that once housed the Woodrow Wilson School on Croftland Avenue, just off Washington Street on the side of Codman Hill.

Councillor-elect Erin Murphy, a former BPS teacher who worked with Lampron, said fights and other reports of violence have been on the rise in the school district in recent weeks.

“School violence has spiked across the community,” said Murphy. “We need a zero-tolerance policy in BPS, that is true, but we have to have a balance also. Coming out of COVID-19 we’re going to now start to see the toll that took on our students due to the isolation of online learning. We’ll need more social emotional supports and we’ve kind of tied the hands of our school police.”

School Safety Officers, formerly Boston School Police, have been in a back-and-forth with the City, BPS and the Boston Police over their status in recent weeks. While they have never been an armed police force, they have had powers to arrest and carried handcuffs. They could also write police reports.

All of that changed on July 1 with the state Police Reform Act, which took away their ability to be licensed and, thus, their arrest powers and ability to carry handcuffs. They no longer wear uniforms and are part of a safety force, not a department. That has been a point of contention for many since July, and Collins said there has been progress on an agreement recently, but the finishing touches haven’t been ironed out. He called on Cassellius and the Boston Police to get that done.

The Henderson incident follows a highly-publicized incident during the first week of school when a high school student at CASH Academy in Fields Corner brought a loaded handgun to school, and another incident about two weeks ago when a Madison Park student brought a weapon into school in a backpack and sent that school and others into lockdown. Sources who spoke to the Reporter this week indicated there are more incidents across the district that haven’t made the news.

School Safety Officers, and former School Police officers, spoke to the Reporter this week on condition of anonymity. They said that issues like this incident at the Henderson are not unique to that school, but worry that they will be more common at every school. They described a situation where they feel like their hands are tied because they don’t have authority to intervene in any kind of attack such as happened to Principal Lampron.

“From what I understand it’s issues like [this one] at the Henderson that are going to continue because BPS just doesn’t want police,” said one former high-ranking School Police officer. “Safety officers are understaffed. These officers are only three months into the school year and have had multiple incidents of concern.”

Mayor-elect Michelle Wu told reporters on Thursday that she was horrified by the attack on Lampron, but still does not think police officers should be stationed in city schools.

“It points to the need for us to really be investing in our young people, in our school systems, in the supports that are necessary all throughout the system,” she said. “We need, particularly in this moment coming out of the pandemic, when there’s been such stress, anxiety, trauma on our families, to be putting more resources into social and emotional supports, into the wrap-around services that our schools should be providing.”

When asked if the incident changed her position on not having police in the schools, she said, “No.”

Acting Mayor Kim Janey said the incident was “concerning” and school staff need to be safe.

"My thoughts are with the principal as she heals from this disturbing attack,” she said. “Every employee in Boston Public Schools deserves to be safe at work. We are doing all we can to support the staff and students who were impacted by this unfortunate incident and address the trauma that is often at the root cause of violence. This event underscores the importance of social workers in our schools and continued investments in social emotional learning as we recover from the pandemic."

Councillor-elect Murphy noted that a recent forum on school safety, and it was stated that there have already been 114 incidents in Boston’s schools, as opposed to 140 in all of 2019-20 (the last year students were in the schools a majority of the year).

Murphy also added that the Henderson shouldn’t be labelled wrongly due to it being a full inclusion school. It is not a school that specializes in behavioral issues, she stressed.

“There’s this narrative out there now that the Henderson is a behavioral school and what do you expect from that and it’s what you get,” she said. “That’s not correct and it’s not accurate. We do have schools like the McKinley for behavior and emotional needs, but the Henderson is not a behavioral school. It’s sad that people automatically think that, but maybe it’s a lack of understanding.”

Several parents whose children attend the Henderson Upper School were hesitant to talk to the Reporter on the record. But few noted any outstanding problems in previous years at the school – no more so than any other BPS school.

One parent said their kids have attended the school for many years without incident, but the kids had noted more fights this year – a pattern that seems to be emerging across the district and beyond.

The Boston Teachers Union (BTU) said they are participating in the response at the Henderson and support deploying counseling services.

The BTU was a major advocate for removing police from the schools and indicated one of the issues is the trauma from 2020 combined with schools that are not adequately staffed.

“Our students and educators have been through a year plus of trauma during the pandemic, and so we would expect there to be social and emotional challenges as students return to school in person fulltime,” said BTU Executive Vice President Erik Berg. “The incidents that have occurred as a result of these highlight the need for adequately staffed schools and programs so that we can address the real issues that students bring with them every day.”

He said the BTU is advocating for an expedited hiring process to fill in the gaps that exist so schools can meet the needs of students trying to recover from the pandemic.

Meanwhile, Senator Collins wants an expedited agreement between the schools and Boston Police to restore the licenses for school officers.

“The Superintendent must immediately increase health and safety resources at the Henderson School and across the district,” he said. “This includes reaching an agreement with the Boston Police Department to license adequately trained school officers immediately. Further delay only contributes to the school safety crisis permeating across the city.”

Boston Police say their investigation into the attack on Mrs. Lampron is ongoing.

A group of parents and kids drew messages in chalk on Sunday to welcome back faculty and students who will return to the school on Monday. Photo courtesy City Councillor-elect Erin Murphy.