Graphic content disclaimer: A photo depicting a head injury at the bottom of this story may be upsetting to some readers. Proceed with caution.
BUFFALO, N.Y. – One middle school-aged girl is in police custody and another is suspended until further notice following an assault that sent a third young student to the emergency room on Tuesday.
Twanna, who attends middle school at the Charter School for Applied Technologies, was hurt so badly that she needed stitches in her head. Her mother, Karla Warren, wants answers.
"There's been some bullying in the school overall, not just with my daughter, but a lot of parents on complaining with the bullying going on,” Warren said.
Twanna said two girls with a reputation for bullying followed her into the bathroom Tuesday and assaulted her.
The Charter School for Applied Technologies acknowledges the physical altercation happened. Communications director Lori Allan described one of the girls involved as “the instigator” and the other as the “aggressor.” Allen said neither are allowed back at school if and until a superintendent’s hearing takes place.
The school put a statement online and sent robocalls home Wednesday. The assault happened to Twanna on Tuesday. Warren says it's too little, too late.
"For the most part, it's just been verbal with my daughter, so I kind of teach her…don't pay attention to people's words…as long as they don't put their hands on you or harm you,” Warren said.
Pictures of Twanna’s injuries were posted in a CSAT parent Facebook group, which led to outrage by many parents who shared their own children’s bullying experiences.
Several parents also reached out to 2 On Your Side about the incident.
Warren says she feels if the school had hall monitors or bathroom monitors, “she would never have been left alone in a pool of blood in the bathroom for 10 minutes unconscious.” Warren says she knows the school has cameras and hopes to be able to review security footage that might reveal the exact time between when her daughter entered the bathroom and when someone found her.
Allan says the school takes bullying seriously and that school leaders are meeting Thursday morning to discuss it.
Warren says there's also a growing concern over gang-related violence in the schools, too, and that the current discipline system isn't working.
"Then they'll fight again, suspension again, come back, it's just like a vicious cycle,” Warren said.
Twanna said that she is comfortable returning to school.
