Mentor Schools Administrators React To 'Mentor' Documentary Trailer, Media Coverage

Both Mentor Schools Superintendent Jacqueline Hoynes and Principal William Wade posted messages online Wednesday, reacting to the trailer for the documentary "Mentor."

The documentary, which is directed by Alix Lambert, is about bullying and teen suicide at Mentor High School.

For the documentary, Lambert interviewed the parents of Eric Mohat and Sladjana Vidovic. Both sets of parents have filed lawsuits against the school district.

They claim the school did not do enough to prevent the bullying of their respective children and that the bullying ultimately led Eric to shoot himself and Sladjana to hang herself out of her bedroom window.

The . The Vidovics' suit is still ongoing in federal court.

"Mentor" is not finished yet, according to Lambert. However, a trailer for the documentary has been on Vimeo since December. However, it garnered more attention after The Plain Dealer wrote a story about it earlier this week.

Hoynes and Wade responded both to the trailer and the resulting media coverage.

Hoynes wrote on the school district's web site:

Many of you in the Mentor Schools community have probably seen the Cleveland Plain Dealer story covering the documentary being produced about alleged bullying at MHS.

While I have not seen the entire documentary, and the PD article indicates it is not yet completed, the trailer reports only one side of the story.

For legal reasons, we have not been able to respond in the media to the allegations being made. In the past, I have asked for your patience when allegations have been made about bullying incidents at MHS.

I now repeat that request as once again strangers appear to be making inaccurate statements about MHS and our students. I feel confident once the facts are able to come out, we will be exonerated from all of these allegations.

Thank you for your continued support of our students. We have a wonderful student body and they are worthy of that support.

Meanwhile, Wade posted on the high school's site:

I know many of you are feeling frustrated over the way our school is being portrayed in the media in regard to a documentary trailer recently released about alleged bullying at Mentor High.

While there is not a lot we can say in response to the media coverage for legal reasons, what I know is that we have a great school, with great students and staff.

It is unfortunate some people are trying to paint us in a bad light. But one thing I know is we will stick together and show our Cardinal Pride.

I encourage all of you to take the high road and deflect this negativity with positivity and kindness. Demonstrate your Cardinal Pride and show everyone how great our school is by continuing to do all the great things we do.

As I said at the beginning of the year: be a good citizen and stand up and speak out. Remember once a cardinal always a cardinal. Have a great morning and stay strong Mentor High!

Mentor High Student Government President Sarah Perry has also responded to the criticism by .