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Phila. principal delayed report of assault

A district official said the complaints of an eighth-grade girl should have been addressed immediately.

A 13-year-old Philadelphia School District student said a classmate stabbed her with a broken pencil, poked her in the forehead, slapped her in the face, and choked her - all during a bullying-prevention class at her South Philadelphia school shortly before Christmas break.

She hadn't seen him since.

Until yesterday.

Holly Dawson called her mother in a panic from her cell phone when she saw that the boy who attacked her was back in school.

Dawson's family had filed a complaint about the Dec. 19 attack at Sharswood School with city police earlier this month.

"He just gave me a really dirty look. He looked like he was about to kill me," the eighth-grade girl said, fearing the boy was angry about the police complaint. She said she had no previous problems with the 13-year-old boy and didn't know why he targeted her.

The district is investigating the incident and Sharswood Principal Maureen A. Skalski could face disciplinary action for failing to report the assault in a timely fashion, district officials said. She didn't submit a serious-incident report as required under district policy until Jan. 10, three days after the student was arrested.

Safe-schools advocate Jack Stollsteimer, the state-appointed official who monitors safety in the district, blasted Skalski for the reporting delay and the district for not moving the perpetrator to another school.

Stollsteimer said he decided to speak out on this case because it represented part of a pattern in the district.

"How can you sit there day after day and watch kids be victimized?" Stollsteimer said.

He called the case "outrageous" after learning from Holly's mother, Gina Dawson, that the boy was in school. If the assault had been reported, action could have been taken and the boy could have been removed from the school, he said. "These things need to be reported immediately."

Stollsteimer said South Regional Superintendent John Frangipani told him that the necessary paperwork was not completed for the student's removal.

"Because of a paperwork problem, this girl has to be afraid?" Stollsteimer asked.

An "investigative conference" into the matter will be held before the end of the month, district spokeswoman Cecilia Cummings said.

As for moving the student to another school, Cummings said, "We're trying to create a situation where both kids can be served in safe and productive environments and we are looking into several possibilities."

Skalski did not return a call seeking comment. She, however, did send a letter home to parents yesterday afternoon, notifying them of the Dec. 19 incident.

"When it was reported to me," she wrote, "it was immediately addressed and the necessary disciplinary steps were taken."

District officials said accounts of the attack varied, but that the school found enough evidence to warrant punishing the boy.

Skalski gave the boy a three-day in-school suspension, Cummings said.

Gina Dawson complained that Skalski told her the boy's actions were "love taps" and that he was just trying to get her daughter's attention.

She said the boy, a special-education student, had since threatened to harm Holly. Dawson said she also reported that threat to police.

Philadelphia police did not return a call seeking comment yesterday. Dawson said she had been notified that the case was scheduled for a Feb. 12 court hearing.

Gina Dawson broke down in tears yesterday as she described the emotional toll the incident has taken.

"It's pretty scary. I have to worry about her in school, going to school, coming home from school," Dawson said. "I don't think he should have been allowed back in the school."

The school moved Holly to another classroom to ease Dawson's concerns, said Felecia Ward, a district spokeswoman. But Dawson said it angered her that her daughter's education has to be disrupted.

"They're more concerned about protecting the defendant's due process than they are about the victim," Stollsteimer said of the district.

Interim chief academic officer Cassandra Jones sent out a memo last week after hearing from Stollsteimer, reminding all principals of their obligation to immediately report all serious incidents, including assaults.

"There is no administrative discretion in matters of assault, weapons violations, and/or any criminal activity," Jones wrote.

There were 2,354 assaults reported against students in 2006-07 - 13.8 per 1,000 students, down slightly from 14.9 per 1,000 in 2002-03, district data show.

This is Holly Dawson's first year at Sharswood. She attended a Catholic school last year.

Dawson said she would like Holly to remain at Sharswood this year and then would look for a charter school for ninth grade.