School assault caught on tape stirs parents, school board

MANKATO, Minn. — Parents who posted a video of their daughter being assaulted outside her school say they shared it because of frustration over what they believe is an inadequate response to widespread bullying.

With the support of her husband and daughter, Jennifer Rodriguez posted a video on Facebook Monday of her ninth-grade daughter being punched and kicked in the head last Thursday by an eighth-grader outside East High School in Mankato, about 80 miles southwest of Minneapolis. 

They’re surprised by the considerable attention it received but are glad it is inspiring discussion about the issue, they said.

Rodriguez’s post has been viewed more than 90,000 times, shared by nearly 900 people and received nearly 600 comments. Media coverage of the video has spurred hundreds more online comments.

Jennifer and Caleb Rodriguez said they are astounded by the reaction and believe it’s an indicator that many share their concern that bullying is a hazard at East.

Jennifer said her daughter has cited multiple occasions of being verbally bullied since coming to East as a seventh-grader. Jennifer said she’s had meetings with school administrators attempting to resolve the conflict without success.

The parents said they posted the video to raise public awareness of bullying and hoping it would inspire more district efforts to prevent bullying and stronger repercussions for bullies.

“This stuff can’t be swept under the rug anymore. They need to address it,” Caleb said.

School Board Chairwoman Ann Hendricks and School Board Treasurer Judi Brandon said they haven’t thoroughly reviewed the social media comments. Such comments are often hastily posted venting and often aren’t reflective of the majority feelings of a community, they said. No one has contacted them directly recently to talk about bullying, they said, adding they welcome families to do so.

Several social media users who responded to Jennifer’s post and media reports said their children also had been bullied and echoed the Rodriguezes’ concerns and wishes for a stronger district response.

The board members said the assault caught on video has caused them to reflect on the district’s anti-bullying and other safety efforts and how well they communicate them with the community. But they didn’t say it has caused them serious concern.

“The safety of our children and our staff are at the foremost of our minds every single day,” Brandon said. “When something like this happens, it reminds us that we have to continue the work that we do with our children through our curriculum, the use of our psychologists, and the Diversity Council.”

While data privacy law doesn’t, in most instances, allow school administrators to discuss disciplinary action taken against a student, the two board members said they have confidence discipline is being levied appropriately.

They don’t agree with the social media calls for expulsion or other minimum or uniform disciplinary measures for violent and/or bullying behavior.

“Fair is not equal. Fair is giving the individual what they need,” Brandon said.

The senior board members had a short response when asked about the multiple social media comments suggesting bullying and violence are more pervasive in the east side of the district.

Several comments to the story on social media showed parents were wary of sending their kids to East and others outright stated they changed schools because of the fights and bullying. Some said when they moved back to town they made sure they were in the West district because of what is happening at East.

Mankato Department of Public Safety call logs to East High School show 10 calls for disturbances, four for harassment, two for assaults and one for threats since the start of the school year, 17 calls in total. 

At nearby West High School there have been two disturbance calls and one report each of assault, threats and harassment, 5 in total.

Goodrich writes for the Mankato, Minnesota Free Press.