BUFFALO, N.Y. — Twenty-four hours after 2 On Your Side obtained video Monday showing a 15-year-old student assaulting a teacher at Burgard High School, Buffalo Teachers Federation president Rich Nigro sat down for an exclusive interview to respond to the string of violence impacting teachers across the district.
Nigro said he was not aware of the video until seeing it on 2 On Your Side last night and felt he should have been notified as the union’s president. The student in the video was charged with assault and harassment, per Buffalo Police.
Nigro said he believes action needs to be taken both regarding the video and the violence in general across the district.
“I don't think you would find anybody who wasn't shocked by [the video] or bothered by that,” he said. “Nobody should feel like they have to look over their shoulder when they're going to work.
The recent string of violent incidents across the district has involved teachers in multiple situations, including a series of incidents at Riverside Academy in the past few weeks. Riverside students and teachers spoke out at a Board of Education meeting last week, claiming the district has not done enough to address the problem.
In response to those incidents, Nigro said Superintendent Dr. Tonja Williams called a meeting Tuesday specifically on school violence where Nigro told district leadership a precedent needs to be set.
He says that precedent should include suspensions and, in the most severe cases, expulsions so that students understand that they can’t get away with this violence.
“My impression is that [the district is] concerned about it as well. I don't think that it's falling on deaf ears,” Nigro said. “The optics of it needs to be if you do something like this without question, definitively wrong, there are immediate consequences.”
He also said this change cannot be achieved alone and that students’ parents need to be involved, especially when their children instigate violence.