After a Park Ridge child was allegedly beaten by teens, parents want more response from police, school district, who say they’ve addressed concerns

After their 9-year-old son was allegedly beaten by middle-school-aged boys to the point that he got a concussion and thought his neck was broken, a Park Ridge couple say they’re frustrated with responses from the Park Ridge Police Department and Park Ridge-Niles School District 64 and are requesting further action.

Parents Natasha and Michael Bulava said they believe police and District 64 have not taken steps the Bulavas requested to mitigate damage from the incident, which took place April 15 on the Carpenter Elementary School playground. Michael Bulava, an Oak Brook Terrace police officer, and Natasha Bulava, an English teacher at Elk Grove High School, said their younger son was mocked and then attacked while making a movie with his older brother and a friend.

Michael Bulava told Park Ridge City Council on April 17 that the altercation began over the older children taking the boy’s hat and mask. Later photos provided to Pioneer Press show the hat is a black Santa hat with “Bah Humbug” printed in white letters and the mask is a red character villain mask.

The Bulavas have asked District 64 to issue a no-trespass order that would bar the 10 middle-school adolescents involved in the aggression towards their sons from setting foot on the grounds of Carpenter Elementary School, which their younger son attends, and to formally document the fight as a bullying incident. Their older son was also punched when he tried to protect his brother, the couple said in the public comment to Park Ridge City Council.

Both District 64 and police officials have said they have responded appropriately and police said that one of the older children involved in the aggression has been charged with battery.

District 64 officials said they could not proceed with the no-trespass order, and have declined to act on the complaint the Bulavas submitted because the incident did not take place during school hours. In an email to Pioneer Press, district officials characterized the matter as a “non-school-related incident.”

The district and school leaders offered to help the family make a plan to help their sons feel safer when school resumes, records show.

When asked whether they are taking follow-up action — such as counseling, restorative justice or a peer jury — with the adolescents who allegedly attacked the two Bulava children, outgoing District 64 Supt. Eric Olson would not say, indicating that the district’s interaction with students is only shared with the students, families and staff involved.

Asked about resources available to students dealing with issues of bullying and being bullied, outgoing superintendent Eric Olson said in a statement the district has “many qualified staff in each of our schools, including social workers, counselors, and administrators, who can assist at these times.”

Olson also said the district has had “several conversations” with the Park Ridge Police Department about the incident.

Park Ridge Police confirmed in an email to Pioneer Press that the department had commissioned an internal investigation, now complete, into how the on-duty officer handled the matter .

“The findings of the internal investigation determined that allegations made by Mr. Bulava are unfounded,” a department representative said in a statement. “Additionally, and most importantly, the investigation shows that the sergeant and officers involved in this investigation did their job while upholding the police department’s mission and values.”

The Bulavas said authorities’ responses have not fully addressed their concerns.

“It feels as though they’re trying to get us to go away as opposed to trying to help the situation,” Natasha Bulava said.

“Bullying behavior [in Park Ridge] is not addressed and it’s minimized and it’s referred to as boys being boys,” Michael Bulava said. “It feels like they just want us to stop.”

Park Ridge Mayor Marty Maloney referred a request for comment to the police department.

Park Ridge Police said in a statement that the department was “committed to providing a safe and secure environment for community members of all ages.”

“This includes our constant community outreach and engagement that strives to establish positive and interactive relationships with our youth,” police said.

In his public comment to City Council, Bulava said when the boy “tried to get his hat back, he was shoved to the ground with such force that he rolled across the ground three times, heard his neck crack and was later diagnosed with a concussion at the emergency room.”

A set of notes from a District 64 administrator summarizing the incident states that the teenagers asked the boy “if he was part of the KKK, took his hat, played keep away with his hat, and then shoved [the boy] to the ground so hard that [he] thought he had broken his neck.”

The notes also state that the boy’s older brother tried to intervene and was punched in the stomach, that the district had noted the incident and, if administrators determined that the issue was within the jurisdiction of the school district, they would process a bullying report.

Michael Bulava said the police official who was on duty told him that “due to the age of the offenders, there was probably nothing that would happen to them besides community service or peer court and that my wife should probably just let the school handle it.”

“I hope in the future that the Park Ridge Police Department will understand the gravity of the situation and the need for immediate action and follow through when a child is the victim of a violent attack,” he said.

The Park Ridge Police Department denied a Freedom of Information request for the police report associated with the incident on the basis of an exemption provided in the Illinois Juvenile Court Act.

The department also denied a Freedom of Information request for the Bulavas’ complaint against the on-duty sergeant on the basis of the exception covering in-progress investigations.

Emails obtained in a Freedom of Information request show that Former Police Chief Frank Kaminski notified elected officials that the investigation had concluded April 21.

“It should be noted that Mr. Bulava was invited on two occasions to view the videos regarding the incident and the [responding officer’s] interactions with his wife,” Kaminski wrote. “He refused both offers. Mr. Bulava was advised of the disposition in this case. I have reviewed all the videos regarding this incident and feel that staff handled this matter in a professional manner.”

Park Ridge police denied a Freedom of Information request for the body camera footage associated with the case on the grounds that the footage dealt with a minor who had been arrested or charged with a crime.

Emails obtained by Pioneer Press show that Olson contacted the family in mid-May to see how they were doing. Natasha Bulava replied to that email with two requests.

“I want what happened to my sons to be acknowledged for the bullying that it was and for that to be formally documented with the school district,” she wrote. “I want the teenagers who participated in the attack on my children to be trespassed from Carpenter School grounds.”

The district denied Freedom of Information requests from Pioneer Press for communications with the family because the records contained identifying student information.

Text messages obtained through a Freedom of Information request show that District 64 Board of Education President Denise Pearl and Olson corresponded about the incident, with Pearl directing Olson to the point in a videotape of the City Council meeting where the Bulavas made their statement.

After Natasha Bulava expressed concerns about how District 64 regards bullying complaints to Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources Joel Martin, Martin offered to have Assistant Superintendent for Teaching and Learning Lori Lopez take over handling the complaint.

Lopez ultimately responded with a May 10 letter stating that District 64 could not pursue disciplinary action because the issue took place outside of school hours and the incident “did not cause a substantial disruption to the educational process or orderly operation of a school.”

Lopez said she had spoken with Emerson School Principal Samantha Alaimo and said Alaimo would be in touch with the Bulavas about putting together a plan to support the older son at Emerson, which he will begin in August. Some or all of the older children involved in the bullying incident attend Emerson, the Bulavas said.

Lopez also stated that Carpenter School Principal Brett Balduf would be willing to put together a formal safety plan for the younger boy as well.