Patricia Lampron, leader of the Henderson K-12 School in Dorchester, continues to recover at home this week after she was reportedly attacked by a 9th grade student outside the school on Nov. 3 – apparently in full view of several young elementary students – following a confrontation that left Lampron knocked unconscious. She was later rushed to a hospital.

In response to what happened, BPS Superintendent Brenda Cassellius ordered the school closed last Thursday and Friday, and put new safety guidelines in place, Henderson students made a staggered return to classes this week on Monday and Tuesday – with the older students returning on Tuesday.

The situation was in the immediate sense a criminal matter and a school safety issue, but some critics of the BPS administration say it was also a byproduct of a decision made last summer to remove the traditional Boston School Police from public school buildings.

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 building. 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.

“The attack at the Henderson school is the culmination of a safety crisis that exists at the school and across the district,” said state Sen. 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.”

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

Mayor-elect Michelle Wu told reporters on Monday that she didn’t think the issue revolved around the changed role of the Boston School Police, who are now called the Office of School Safety and no longer have arrest powers. She said preventing incidents like this one means supporting students and families before such a crisis point.

“There are school safety officers in our schools right now,” she said. “There were officers at the Henderson school when this incident happened. I continue to stand with community members and even with school community members who have come up with school safety plans that involve much a bigger picture of what investments are needed into social and emotional health and resources to stabilize families. This is not just about reacting to situations, but about ensuring that every single young person and their family is fully supported.”

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

The situation unfolded at approximately 2:30 p.m. during dismissal time for younger grades at the upper campus. According to an account from Suffolk County prosecutors, Lampron approached the teen and instructed her to leave the area of the school. The youth reportedly then grabbed Lampron’s hair and struck her in the head and face repeatedly with a closed fist. The principal fell to the ground and was rendered unconscious for several minutes. School safety officers detained the teen until the Boston Police arrived while other school personnel tended to Lampron until she was transported to Brigham and Women’s Hospital for treatment of her injuries.

Sources have told the Reporter that Lampron has recently had a police detail outside of her Dorchester home due to threats of violence directed at her, and that there was a history with her, this student and her family. Boston Police did not confirm that.

For her part, Cassellius said the health and safety of students and staff were the first priority, and she said she worked directly on the situation with school leaders during the closure last Thursday and Friday.

“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.”

Last Friday, Cassellius and BPS officials unveiled the guidelines for the return that started on Monday.They included crisis prevention training, more counselors, and extra staff on arrival and dismissal. The plan did not include more policing in the school or any mention of completing the agreement to license and train school safety officers.

“I am personally grateful for the entire staff who came to school on Thursday and convened to develop a plan so that we can ensure a sound safety plan, with clear steps so that students and parents can be sure we have taken every step to restore a positive learning environment,” read a statement to Henderson parents from Cassellius after a school community Zoom meeting Thursday night.

Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins said the juvenile charged with the attack will be prosecuted. The incident at the Henderson comes at a time when educators in other districts, such as in Lawrence, have raised issues with safety. Rollins also said that there is a nationwide problem of attacking teachers in school and broadcasting it on the TikTok social media platform, though that isn’t suspected to be the case in this incident.

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

Councillor-elect Erin Murphy, a former BPS teacher who worked with Lampron, said that “school violence has spiked across the community. 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.”

She added, “To take the school police away, I think that’s what we’re seeing, and students know that and the word is going around there will be no consequences for the spike in school violence.”

School safety officers, formerly known as Boston School Police, have been in a back-and-forth with the city, BPS and the Boston Police over their status over the last several weeks. While they have never been an armed police force, they have had powers to arrest and carry handcuffs. They could also write police reports.

All of that changed on July 1 with the state police reform act, which raised the standard of training for forces like the Boston School Police and required municipalities and school districts to further train the officers. Without that training for the Boston School Police available, they lost their ability last summer to be licensed and, thus, their arrest powers and ability to carry handcuffs. They no longer wear uniforms and are part of the new Office of School Safety, not a department. That has been a point of contention for many since July, and Sen. 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 as part of the response to the Henderson and other incidents.

The Henderson situation 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, sending that school and others into lockdown. There also was an incident at Dorchester’s McCormack School on Columbia Point last Thursday where a teacher received minor injuries when intervening in a student fist-fight that involved a knife. 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 last week on condition of anonymity. They said that issues like the Henderson case 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 Patricia Lampron.

“From what I understand it’s issues like this 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.”

Acting Mayor Kim Janey said the incident was “concerning” and school staff need to be safe. Early this week she said she didn’t think it would be the right response to add more policing in the schools.

“My thoughts are with the principal as she heals from this disturbing attack,” she said last Thursday. “Every employee in the 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.”

Wu said that making everyone safe in school involves more than just following incidents as they happen.

“I’m going to do whatever it takes to make sure every single one of our young people, all of our school educators, staff members are fully, fully comfortable, safe, protected within our school buildings,” she said on Monday. “There’s a lot more to that than just following incidents that happen and preventing incidents. We need to be putting resources to supporting our families from start to finish. From food access to housing stability to mental health supports and trauma supports. We have gone through so much as a community during the pandemic, and our school system is bearing a huge part of that.”

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

Meanwhile, Collins wants an expedited agreement between the schools and Boston Police to restore the licensing process 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.”