She said in her brief exchanges with Hazelwood's principal Sidney Twiggs, who she said addressed her as "Grandma" upon meeting her, there was no help offered to the student, except a reference to a counselor at the school. She said she asked if she should record the exchange with school officials and was told recording devices weren't allowed in school facilities.

On several occasions, Pollotta said, she retrieved her grandson from the school, and on two occasions he had physical evidence of abuse. In one of the last retrievals, she described, the boy was apprehensive, angry, and concluded that: "The school hates me. They don't want me here."

In a cross-examination, Herbert, the school system's lawyer zeroed in on the recording device, asking why, if the Pollotta had one with her, she didn't record her grandson's bruises and behavior. He also asked her again to describe the phone calls from the school--where administrators called for the student to be picked up. He also questioned her motives since Pollotta acknowledged that she did not appreciate being addressed as "Grandma," by Hazelwood principal.

At Glenmount, where the student transferred after severe bullying at Hazelwood, Pollota described similar situations. She said that the student was "happy to be back at school, and it seemed like he was making progress."

Until a week later, when she received her first phone call from another distraught teacher. The second-grade teacher, Pollotta said, indicated that she couldn't find the student after lunch--and later found him out on the playground unconscious. She said at Glenmount, she also picked the student up and he had suffered cuts on the mouth, and puncture wounds on his legs.

In cross examination, Herbert only sought to test her credibility by repeating her testimony. One particular point that was stressed by Herbert, was that she was, ultimately, called by the school.