At a meeting Thursday night, Haven Middle School parents and staff expressed frustration about scant parent and teacher reaction to a Haven employee’s recent arrest.
“It’s been pretty quiet for us,” said Parent-Teacher-Student Association Co-President Julie Rapisarda at the meeting.
On Feb. 15, Rengay Frazier, 36, was charged with theft, weapons possession and drug charges after police found in his basement more than $100,000 of property they believe was stolen from up to 20 North Shore homes over the past six months. At the time of his arrest, he was working as a janitor at Haven, 2417 Prairie Ave.
During the meeting of eight parents and administrators, Principal Kathleen Roberson said she had heard little reaction from parents and students, but that has not been due to lack of community concern.
The problem is even if the parents asked, school and district administrators could say little about the situation.
District personnel policies prohibit them from giving away too much information, and little has been released because the legal process is just starting.
“The courts have to do what they have to do,” said Haven teacher and committee Co-President Andy Mynard, who added that he was surprised he hasn’t heard more from parents. “It’s hard for the superintendent to talk about it and that’s frustrating.”
A letter to Haven parents was sent home with students Feb. 21, the day police announced Frazier’s arrest.
While Rapisarda said she never received the letter because her daughter told her there were “limited copies,” other parents said their children brought them the letter immediately after returning home, an action they said was rare for a middle schooler.
“I think that shows you the impact it’s had,” Roberson said, in response to the parents’ comments.
Parents said students needed an opportunity to talk about the incident to help them cope. Frazier was a popular member of the Haven staff, said Mynard, who added he had Frazier’s son in class and knew Frazier to be a very good father.
“We need an opportunity for students to know how (to) sort of deal with this,” said Nancy Doyle, the third co-president of the committee. “Even if it was just (them saying) ‘Gosh, I really liked (Frazier) and I don’t know what to think about it now.'”
Still, Roberson said the school hasn’t had – and probably won’t plan – such meetings .
If the school had staged a meeting sooner, the situation could have been a learning opportunity for children at a critical point in their development, Rapisarda said.
“It was an opportunity for learning; not learning the (Illinois Standards Achievement Test), but learning about life,” she said. “In many ways, the opportunity is gone.”
Administrators said they were unsure of the next step.
“We don’t know what’ll happen from here,” Roberson said. “It’s really at a difficult place right now. The word (for the situation) is sad.”
