Schools change policy; Parents hire lawyer

BROCKTON, Mass. --The Brockton public school system will amend its code of student conduct after facing widespread criticism for suspending a 6-year-old boy for allegedly sexually harassing a female classmate.

Meanwhile, the boy's mother has retained lawyer to investigate the way school officials handled the incident.

The School Department will revise its reporting system of student conduct to include inappropriate touching among young children after the boy was suspended for an allegation of sexual harassment.

"We will be adding categories for children of that age," department spokeswoman Cynthia McNally told The Enterprise of Brockton on Friday.

The first-grader at Downey Elementary School was suspended for three days after a female classmate complained that the boy put two fingers inside her waist band and touched her skin during class. An advocate for the family said the girl poked the boy first and the two were engaged in nothing more than innocent horseplay.

School officials reported the incident to the district attorney's office, although no charges were filed.

The suspension outraged the boy's mother, Berthena Dorinvil, who demanded an apology from the school system and asked that her son be transferred to another school to avoid being stigmatized. School officials at first refused the transfer request, but relented and granted a transfer and apologized for the incident earlier this week.

Superintendent Basan Nembirkow told The Boston Globe that the incident never should have been labeled sexual harassment or have been referred to the district attorney's office.

The Dorinvils lawyer, John Pavlos, said the boy's parents feel that their son has been mentally and emotionally injured, but have not yet decided whether to sue. First, he said, the family wants to know how the school staff treated their son during the incident.