Pushing a new bullying policy as part of her platform, she misplaces a tragic bullying case from a Pasco in another state to Pasco in Florida.
By REBECCA CATALANELLO
Published August 20, 2004
Patricia Murphy was appalled to read online that a Pasco 13-year-old committed suicide after being repeatedly bullied at school. A new Pasco County resident, Murphy said she was concerned enough that she called the family two years ago to learn more about their lawsuit against the school district.
Strangely, the incident that upset Murphy never made the local papers or television news. There's no lawsuit filed in Pasco County courts.
But, Murphy told the Pasco Times editorial board last week, the case is one of the reasons she is running for Pasco County School Board - and making school discipline a top issue. As it turns out, one detail escaped Murphy's attention: The suicide case didn't happen here.
It happened in the Pasco Public School District in the town of Pasco, Wash. (pop. 38,233).
"Oh! Okay," the 35-year-old Land O'Lakes resident said when asked about the mistake Thursday. "I don't believe the fact that it's not in Pasco County means it's not relevant."
Sixth-grader Jared High of Pasco, Wash., shot himself in 1998, his family claims, after he was bullied during a practice baseball game. His mother, Brenda High, a former School Board member there, filed a lawsuit in Franklin County Superior Court in 1999. His family details the case on their Web site, www.jaredstory.com It ended in a settlement.
Murphy had said during the Times interview last week that she believed the Pasco County School Board's new bullying policy was in response to the Jared High case.
"That's not true at all," said Al Bashaw, director of student services for the Pasco County school district. In April, the district devised a new policy that specifically defines bullying and the penalties for such actions.
Bashaw said that while the district was aware of the Washington case, it was not that lawsuit that prompted the new Student Code of Conduct rule.
"The candidate better have better information," Bashaw said. "They don't know enough about Pasco County to know that it's not Pasco County, Florida? It took you two minutes to confirm that. She could have done the same thing."
Should voters wonder, Murphy was asked, if the quality of her research would be any better as a member of the School Board.
"If I'm wrong, somebody's going to tell me," Murphy said. With the school administration, four other School Board members and the press watching, Murphy said, she'd be corrected.
Just like this time: "If you hadn't called me," she said, "I wouldn't have known."
Murphy said Thursday she cited the case to the Times simply as an example of what bullying can do.
Murphy is running against 12-year incumbent Marge Whaley, 63, of Land O'Lakes and Ryan O'Reilly, 23, of Wesley Chapel, in the Aug. 31 primary election. This is the first time either Murphy or O'Reilly has sought public office. If one candidate doesn't get more than 50 percent of the vote, the election will go to a November runoff.
Whaley said campaigns often breed misinformation.
"It's too bad candidates can't be informed," Whaley said.
When Murphy first filed to run for School Board in June, she told the Times she was unaware that superintendent John Long was retiring and that the district was in the midst of a hotly contested race for that top education seat.
O'Reilly said he believes Murphy should be credited for raising the issue of bullying. But her misinformation should raise flags.
"I think it shows she doesn't know a whole lot about the Pasco County School District," O'Reilly said. "I think she's onto something, but she's misinformed, and she wasn't paying attention to the little details."
