Severna Park High officials investigating video of student bullying special needs student

BALTIMORE - Officials at Severna Park High School sent a letter to parents saying they are investigating a video that shows a student bullying another student with special needs.

The video was airdropped to several students and staff within the school.

According to school principal Lindsay Abruzzo, the video shows a student speaking with the special needs student during lunch, using words that include a "racial epithet and phrases that are belittling and demeaning to a person with special needs."

   Letter Severna Park HS Airdropped Video 1-10-23 by Adam Thompson on Scribd
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School officials also said the special needs student was threatened harm.

Principal Abruzzo condemned the actions and called for anyone with information to speak out.

"As a school community, we must never condemn children. However, I do condemn the actions in this video in the strongest possible terms," she said. "They are unacceptable anywhere, especially in a school setting where part of our mission as a collective community is to cultivate students who are kind, accepting, and inclusive.

"We are supporting the student who is the victim and their family in this case and continuing to investigate this matter as swiftly as we possibly can."

School officials are working to find the person who took the video and airdropped it to peers.

"We are not certain at this point if they are the same person or not," Abruzzo said. "I implore you to talk to your student as soon as possible, both to glean any information that may be helpful to our investigation but more importantly to impart to them that actions such as this are simply not OK.

"We cannot and will not tolerate such actions and we will take aggressive and appropriate disciplinary action with regard to any student who engages in such activity."