TAUNTON — The following is a statement from Taunton Public Schools Superintendent John Cabral:
“The Taunton Public Schools administration was made aware of an incident this week at the Elizabeth Pole Elementary School involving a group of students at recess where a student’s neck was injured by a jump rope on Tuesday, Oct. 11.
“After a thorough investigation by school officials, including interviewing the students involved, it has been determined that the incident was an accident that occurred when a group of students were playing together with the rope, wrapping it around each other and spinning each other by pulling on the rope. At this time, there is no evidence to suggest that there was any malicious intent behind this incident. A Taunton Police School Resource Officer was notified of the situation and attempted to contact the student’s family.
“Through a review of this incident by district administration, however, it has become apparent that there were reporting and communication errors made by school officials, including that the student’s parents were not notified of the student’s injury after visiting the school nurse following the incident.
“Ensuring student safety and wellbeing is our core responsibility, and communication is a key part of that responsibility. We are committed to ensuring we are more proactive moving forward, beginning with the implementation of a corrective action plan for the school staff members involved, as well as professional development around this issue for all administrators in the district.
“While we have been in contact with the student’s family throughout this week, we know we can do better.
“I want to sincerely apologize to the family of this student for our failure in communication. We will be reviewing our policies and procedures as it pertains to the reporting and communication of student injuries. I have reached out personally and spoken to the family to formally apologize to them and to schedule a meeting with them to hear their concerns.”
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