Orange County parents question school safety after 3 children injured in separate incidents

Several parents in Orange County are questioning whether administrators in two city school districts are doing enough to keep students safe after three recent incidents that ended in kids getting hurt.

Blaise Gomez

Dec 11, 2023, 8:26 PM

Updated 380 days ago

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Several parents in Orange County are questioning whether administrators in two city school districts are doing enough to keep students safe after three recent incidents that ended in kids getting hurt.
Janette Patrick says her 6-year-old son got off the bus from Temple Hill Academy in Newburgh last Friday with an unexplained bloody gash on his face. Patrick says she tried asking the driver what happened, but he took off without saying a word.
“He didn’t try to check my son. Basically, he didn’t care,” says Patrick. “Why should I feel OK putting my son back on the bus?”
Patrick says the driver didn’t’ check on her son or use a first aid kit onboard the bus. She says she contacted school administration who later determined the child was injured while interacting with other students on the bus. The mother says it’s not clear if the child was assaulted or was playing when he was hurt.
Another parent in Middletown gave News 12 photos of their 14-year-old son in tears with a bloody cut on his face after the teen allegedly received a death threat and was beaten up at Monhagen Middle School last month.
The father says instead of helping the boy, or preventing the attack, the teen was suspended for five days for leaving the school early on Nov. 28 – the day he was assaulted. He said his son felt scared and unsafe in the school.
The parent gave News 12 a screenshot of the threat that said, “You’re going to die tomorrow. My friends are going to stab you in the stomach.”
News 12 was also alerted to a violent attack caught on camera last Wednesday at Newburgh Free Academy that allegedly involved multiple students and a parent who attacked a 16-year-old girl on campus. There is a call out to City of Newburgh police for information.
In all three incidents, parents say the situations weren’t handled properly and that more needs to be done to keep kids safe and parents informed.
“If it happened to my kid, it could happen to anybody’s kid,” says Patrick.
Middletown school superintendent Amy Creeden told News 12 on Tuesday that the, "information being alleged is not accurate."
We have not heard back from the Newburgh school district about our request for information.