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School District Sued by Family of 11-Year-Old Girl Who Died by Suicide After Alleged Bullying

By Katy St. Clair Bay City News In a time when many pre-teen antics are uploaded to TikTok and Instagram, a video out of Vallejo shared on social media last year holds something disturbing. In it, a sixth-grade girl stands in a school yard with her back to the camera, her long dark hair pulled […]
The post School District Sued by Family of 11-Year-Old Girl Who Died by Suicide After Alleged Bullying first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

Published

2 years ago

March 14, 2023

OAKLAND POST

By Katy St. Clair
Bay City News

In a time when many pre-teen antics are uploaded to TikTok and Instagram, a video out of Vallejo shared on social media last year holds something disturbing.

In it, a sixth-grade girl stands in a school yard with her back to the camera, her long dark hair pulled back into a ponytail and her bright pink backpack on her shoulders. Suddenly, an arm shoots out, reaches for the girl’s hair and yanks her down very hard, sending the child sprawling to the ground.

The 11-year-old girl in the pink backpack was Maria “Therese” Caguin and she took her own life on Jan. 2 because she was repeatedly bullied at her school, her parents said. Now they are suing the school district for allegedly allowing their daughter to be subjected to physical, cyber and verbal bullying.

Therese’s death shocked and horrified not only her parents, but the greater community. Parents are calling for something to be done about bullying at Hogan Middle School in Vallejo.

Therese’s sister set up a GoFundMe the day after her death to raise funds for her funeral.

“Yesterday my little sister Therese took her own life. My dad found her in her room. She was only 11 years old,” reads the post. “This has been the most unexpected and saddest thing we’ve had to endure as a family.”

The principal of Hogan Middle School, Rosalind Hines, referred all questions about Therese’s alleged bullying and death to the Vallejo City Unified School District, which did not comment on the girl’s death. Hines did send out a message to parents on Jan. 6 in the wake of Therese’s death.

“With a heavy heart, I share the news of the passing of one of our own,” she wrote. “This sudden loss will surely raise many emotions, concerns, and questions for our entire school, especially our students.”

Hines went on to say that mental health support staff would be made available.

The reaction on Facebook was a mixture of sadness and anger, with one poster saying, “Maybe they should have stated that this poor child committed suicide due to bullying at that school. Why sugar coat it? Those bullies should suffer consequences.”

Therese’s mother Vionalyn Caguin, a single mom who also has a 3-year-old son, said she has been “completely broken” by her daughter’s death, saying she had no idea how much she had been going through.

“She just kept it to herself,” said Caguin, who said she knew her daughter wasn’t thriving at school but she didn’t know the extent of her trauma.

Caguin said she felt her daughter was trying to protect her from concern because she knew life wasn’t easy for her single mother.

“She didn’t want me to worry, but I was always saying, ‘Mama’s here.’ I made sure I was always there for her,” she said.

Caguin repeatedly asked her daughter how she was doing at her new school. Therese began at Hogan in August and was having difficulty making friends. She was obedient, quiet and sweet, her mother said.

Still, after a few months at Hogan, her mom knew something was wrong and began trying to find a different school for her daughter, she said, though other schools had waiting lists.

Caguin said that she didn’t fully understand the scope of the bullying until after her daughter’s death and she saw the video of her being assaulted in the school yard.

“When I saw that video, I said, oh my God, it’s breaking my heart, because I didn’t know that it’s that bad,” she said through tears during a visit to her daughter’s grave in a Vallejo cemetery.

Caguin said the school had told her last fall that there was an “incident” involving her daughter and that the kids would “face consequences,” but that the school never told her the extent of what happened, and neither did her daughter.

According to the claim filed Thursday, the school allegedly assured Therese’s parents that they would “take reasonable and appropriate measures to stop the bullying endured by” their daughter.

“Hogan Middle School did nothing to intervene and stop the harassment and bullying and did not follow the policies and procedures to make sure that Decedent and other students on campus were not continually harassed and bullied,” reads the claim.

Though Therese didn’t confide in her mother, she did reach out to a teacher. On or about October or November, she emailed a teacher to say that she “wanted to die,” the family’s claim alleges.

The suit alleges that the school then “did nothing to intervene.”

“In cases such as this, it requires the maximum amount of attention to bring about change,” said attorney for the family Bryan Harrison. “You have a situation in which the parents have entrusted the faculty and administration with trust to care for and protect, what is most meaningful to us as parents — our children.”

He said, “For the staff and faculty to ignore repeated instances of bullying, and in this particular case, ignore actual notice from a child directly that the child was thinking about hurting herself as a result of bullying, it’s not just negligent, it’s grossly negligent.”

A spokesperson for the school district provided their approach to the problem of bullying.

“We have multiple ways to respond to bullying at Hogan Middle School and across the district,” said district spokesperson Celina Baguiao.

Baguiao said all campuses have mental health support providers, academic support providers, and a way to report bullying either directly or anonymously. She also said Vallejo schools contract with outside agencies about bullying, including governmental agencies and nonprofits. There is a care team at Hogan that meets weekly to discuss concerns and an “end of day huddle” with staff to check in with each other about occurrences throughout the day.

Another mother of a child at Hogan said that abuse her daughter faced at the hands of kids there and even a teacher ramped up after Therese’s suicide.

“My daughter’s depressed,” Lauren Keltz, mother of a 13-year-old girl currently at Hogan, said she told a school administrator. “She told me that she is feeling worthless and stupid and suicidal. And I said to the school, ‘I’m telling you right now … because of your guys’ lack of intervention, I’m going to hold you personally accountable.’”

Keltz said no one ever pulled her daughter aside to ask how she was doing.

She said initially the bullying at the school allegedly came from a teacher, who called her daughter “stupid” and “retarded.”

The teacher did not respond to a request for comment and the school district also declined to comment.

Keltz said the news of Therese’s death after her own daughter’s experience at the school horrified her and made her more determined to speak out about what she says is happening at Hogan.

Lawsuits against school districts for bullying are not that uncommon. Last August, the El Segundo Unified School District in Los Angeles County was ordered to pay $1 million in a suit filed on behalf of a 13-year-old girl who was bullied, with students going as far as creating a petition to end her life.

This February in Ocean County, New Jersey, a 14-year-old girl who was bullied took her own life and her alleged attackers have been charged with conspiracy to commit aggravated assault. The superintendent of schools in the community has also resigned as a result. The district is currently being sued for another case of alleged bullying as well.

For Therese’s family, suing the Vallejo district is a way to try to foster change.

“I don’t want my daughter’s life to be erased,” said Caguin. “I want something different from the school. Don’t ignore those things that are happening. Even if my daughter’s not coming back, they have to change.”

Copyright © 2023 Bay City News, Inc. All rights reserved. Republication, rebroadcast or redistribution without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Bay City News is a 24/7 news service covering the greater Bay Area.

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KatyStClair1639p03/03/23

CONTACT: Bryan Harrison, attorney for Caguin family bryan@h-klaw.com

Celina Baguiao, spokesperson for the Vallejo City Unified School District cbaguiao@vcusd.org

EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: Images related to this story can be obtained from the following Bay City News Service web links:

https://www.baycitynews.com/images/BCN-20230210-SUICIDE-01.jpg

Vionalyn Caguin sits at the grave of her 11-year-old daughter, Maria ‘Therese’ Caguin, at All Souls Cemetery in Vallejo, Calif., on Feb. 10, 2023. Maria took her life on Jan. 2, after being repeatedly bullied at Hogan Middle School in Vallejo. The family is suing the school district. (Ray Saint Germain/Bay City News)

https://www.baycitynews.com/images/BCN-20230210-SUICIDE-02.jpg

Vionalyn Caguin wipes away tears as she speaks about her 11-year-old daughter, Maria ‘Therese’ Caguin, at All Souls Cemetery in Vallejo, Calif., on Feb. 10, 2023. Maria took her life on Jan. 2, after being repeatedly bullied at Hogan Middle School in Vallejo. The family is suing the school district. (Ray Saint Germain/Bay City News)

https://www.baycitynews.com/images/BCN-20230210-SUICIDE-04.jpg

Vionalyn Caguin holds a photo album of photos of her 11-year-old daughter, Maria ‘Therese’ Caguin, at All Souls Cemetery in Vallejo, Calif., on Feb. 10, 2023. Maria took her life on Jan. 2, after being repeatedly bullied at Hogan Middle School in Vallejo. The family is suing the school district. (Ray Saint Germain/Bay City News)

https://www.baycitynews.com/images/BCN-20230210-SUICIDE-05.jpg

https://www.baycitynews.com/images/BCN-20230210-SUICIDE-06.jpg

The grave of 11-year-old Maria ‘Therese’ Caguin at All Souls Cemetery in Vallejo, Calif., on Feb. 10, 2023. Maria took her life on Jan. 2, after being repeatedly bullied at Hogan Middle School in Vallejo. The family is suing the school district. (Ray Saint Germain/Bay City News)

https://www.baycitynews.com/images/BCN-20230210-SUICIDE-07.jpg

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The post School District Sued by Family of 11-Year-Old Girl Who Died by Suicide After Alleged Bullying first appeared on Post News Group. This article originally appeared in Post News Group.

The post School District Sued by Family of 11-Year-Old Girl Who Died by Suicide After Alleged Bullying first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

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OP-ED: The Illusion of Allyship. White Women, Your Yard Signs Mean Nothing to Me

NNPA NEWSWIRE – “The blue bracelets are something White women are wearing so others can see that they didn’t vote for Trump,” says Liberal Lisa from Oklahoma on X. Chile, bye. These bracelets are hollow symbols, empty gestures that mean nothing to me. An accessory to claim distance from Trump’s legacy is superficial comfort, while the choice to not stand with us in the voting booth is far more profound.

Published

1 week ago

November 9, 2024

Oakland Post

Political yard signs can symbolize intentions and allegiance. But this year, they’ve also symbolized betrayal. During this general election, Black women were led to believe that more White women would stand with us. Exit polls, however, told a different story. Despite overwhelming displays of support, more White women still chose to vote for the convicted felon, reality TV star, and rapist. White women answered the call but left us hanging at the polls.

A Familiar Disappointment

I live in DeKalb County, Georgia, and the abundance of Harris-Walz yard signs could’ve fooled me. But I’ve seen this before, back when Stacey Abrams ran for governor. White women showed up, put up signs, attended rallies, knocked on doors, and phone-banked. Yet, when it came time to vote, they let us down—not once but twice. I’ve been here for over 15 years, and if there’s one thing I know, it’s that political signs are symbols without weight.

In every election, I’ve talked with White women. Most aren’t the primary earners in their families and vote along party lines, aligning with the preferences of their fathers and husbands. These conversations reveal a reluctance to break from tradition, even when their votes affect women and certainly when their votes impact the lives of people who look like me.

The Illusion of Solidarity—Symbols Are Not Enough

On social media, I’m seeing White women posting pictures of blue bracelets to “prove” they didn’t vote for Trump. “The blue bracelets are something White women are wearing so others can see that they didn’t vote for Trump,” says Liberal Lisa from Oklahoma on X. Chile, bye. These bracelets are hollow symbols, empty gestures that mean nothing to me. An accessory to claim distance from Trump’s legacy is superficial comfort, while the choice to not stand with us in the voting booth is far more profound.

I’ve seen Black Lives Matter signs and black squares posted on Instagram to “prove” support for Black people, but we now know that was a lie, too. Will those same people who claimed Black lives mattered now take down their Harris-Walz signs and show their true selves?

Navigating these truths is a daily struggle for me—professionally and socially. White women often misuse their privilege, supporting us only when it’s convenient. Seeing overqualified Black women sabotaged or abandoned by White women at critical moments is a constant emotional challenge. It’s exhausting to live with this reality, especially when solidarity seems like something they pick up and discard at will.

One clever campaign ad from Harris-Walz that spoke directly to White women. “Your Vote, Your Choice” emphasized that their vote was private—independent of their household situation. Another was from Olivia Howell Dreizen, the “Vote Without Fear” campaign, which empowered women to consider the greater impact of their choices. But it seems many still couldn’t choose the roadmap to freedom—even when it was handed to them.

A Call for Action Beyond Words

White women, I want to believe you care, but actions speak louder than yard signs, bracelets, or Instagram posts. Show up in our communities, advocate in your workplaces, and stand up to dismantle the structures that uphold white supremacy. Only through real action will we know where you stand.

If you choose not to act, we see you—and we know exactly where you stand. Good luck these next four years.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of BlackPressUSA.com or the National Newspaper Publishers Association.

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Supernova Parenting Conference Empowers Over 100 Parents with Resources for Neurodivergence and Mental Health

The inaugural Supernova Parenting Conference was co-hosted by Natasha Nelson, known as Supernova Momma, and Yolanda Walker, founder of Parenting Decolonized. It brought together over 100 parents, caregivers, and educators dedicated to fostering understanding and support for neurodivergent children and mental health challenges. The conference provided invaluable resources, expert insights, and a collaborative space for […]

Published

1 week ago

November 7, 2024

BlackPressUSA.com

The event featured a variety of workshops, panel discussions, and keynote speeches from leading experts in neurodiversity and mental health. Attendees left with practical tools and strategies to enhance their parenting journeys, emphasizing the importance of understanding and supporting the unique needs of neurodivergent children.

“While the conference was a tremendous success, we believe that our work doesn’t end here,” said Natasha Nelson. “It’s crucial to continue providing ongoing support and resources for parents as they navigate this important journey. We want to ensure families can access the tools they need long after the conference.”

To extend the momentum generated at the conference, Natasha and Yolanda are excited to announce the launch of the Supernova Parenting Community. This membership-based initiative aims to offer a safe and supportive environment for parents and caregivers to continue their growth as conscious parents.

Membership is available for as little as $5 a month via Patreon, making it accessible for all families seeking support.

“We know that parenting can be a challenging journey, especially when navigating neurodivergence and mental health issues,” Yolanda Walker added. “Our goal is to build a community where parents feel seen, heard, and supported. We hope you’ll join us in this vital work.”

For more information about the Supernova Parenting Community and to sign up for membership, please visit supernovaparenting.org