Commentary: Florida’s Hope Scholarship helped me rescue my daughter from a school bully

The Hope Scholarship gives Florida parents the option to place children who have reported an incident of harassment, hazing, bullying, robbery, sexual assault and more in a safer environment – a private school or a public school in a different district. More than 1,800 scholarships have been awarded to more than 1,900 students.

Editor’s note: This essay from Fort Lauderdale parent Cherie Sanders appeared today on miamiherald.com.

I received a call near the end of the school day that no parent should ever get: My daughter had been threatened by a male student.

More than threatened — he said he was going to kill her.

Florida’s Hope Scholarship gave her a safer environment and me, peace of mind. One day, near the end of her fifth-grade year at her assigned public school, my daughter was approached by a student who said he was a murderer and that he was going to kill her. Later that day, he walked by her in the cafeteria and told her that she was dead.

My daughter is a sweet, kind-hearted young lady. She is full of faith, love and innocence. Who would want to harm her? She reported him to a teacher. The school investigated and called me. Because we lived a half mile from the school, I was running through the front doors within minutes.

I was heartbroken when I listened to my daughter retell her experience. Parenting is difficult, but I never would have imagined having to deal with threats in a school, where my daughter should feel safe and I should feel comfortable sending her.

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BY Special to NextSteps