Pamela Sleezer

A Vernon Parish mother is looking for answers after her daughter was physically assaulted at school in a fight that she says could have been prevented by administrators.

Kristin Nichols’ seventh-grade daughter continues to suffer from pain and nightmares, constant reminders Nichols said of the assault her daughter endured from a classmate who had made repeated threats against her.

“She was bullying my daughter and telling her she was going to fight her for days leading up to this, even to the administration. On the morning the fight happened, I called the school and told them I was worried for my daughter’s safety. They just told me they would pass the message along to the assistant principal,” Nichols told the American Press.

Her call was not returned that morning, Nichols said, and the only time she heard anything back from her daughter’s school was later that afternoon when they reported to her that her daughter had been injured.

In a video of the fight captured by another student, the altercation can be seen as the student approaches Nichols’ daughter and then takes Nichols’ daughter to the ground and continuously strikes her while she is on the ground.

Nichols said the school contacted her over an hour after the attack occurred, and that her daughter was not given proper medical attention for her injuries.

“They took her to the nurse and they called me one hour later and told me that she wasn’t hurt. My child asked to call me multiple times and they told her she needed to wait,” Nichols said.

Nichols took her daughter to an area hospital, where she was diagnosed with a concussion. “My child is in agony and on muscle relaxers and pain killers. She is scared. She doesn’t want to return to school out of fear it will happen again,” Nichols said.

Nichols said she wants accountability from the school’s administration, whom she said ignored the issues and warnings that led up to the attack, and believes the school should take bullying more seriously. She said her daughter has been “let down” by the school system.

“It shouldn’t take a second or third time offense for a student to be removed from a school. The rate of child and teenage suicide is through the roof. Parents and school staff need to be one team and work together to raise happy, and mentally healthy, well-adjusted children,” Nichols said.

Vernon Parish School Board Assistant Superintendent Mike Kay said that school officials are continuing to look into the incident.

“We are taking this incident very seriously and the investigation into this incident is ongoing,” Kay said.

In the meantime, Nichols is sharing the video of what happened to her daughter at school on social media. She said she has done so with her daughter’s permission in the hopes of raising awareness of bullying.school busMGNonline