Black community leaders gathered at the 16th Street Seventh-day Adventist Church in San Bernardino last Wednesday to call on the Rialto Unified School District (RUSD) to improve school safety. They argue a fight at Jehue Middle School earlier this month was racially motivated and are calling for stronger protections for students.
Clergy and community activists at the meeting expressed their desire to help the 14-year-old girl involved in the fight move forward, advocating for transformative reforms in schools and the juvenile justice system. They also praised San Bernardino County District Attorney Jason Anderson’s decision to drop charges against the students involved.
“Our goal is to prevent situations like this from occurring in the future," said La’Nae Norwood with the Inland Empire Black Women’s Collective. “We allow [children] to make mistakes, we help them come back whole and make it right, and we teach them how to get along with each other.”
A short clip of the incident, which happened on March 10, went viral on social media. The video shows a boy pressing down on the girl’s head. The girl then tries to hit the boy with a laptop, but he slams her head onto the table, knocking her out.
Both students were cited, with the female student facing a felony assault charge and the male student charged with misdemeanor battery. Anderson said in a press statement he hopes both students can move past the incident.
Attorney Na’Shaun Neal, representing the girl’s family, says they have requested her name not be disclosed. The family wants her reinstated in school and is calling for better safety and learning conditions.
"She just wants to go back to school and go on with her life, so she can go to high school with a fresh start, whether it be in the district or not" said Neal.
Neal also says the boy had been bullying her client and faults the teacher for not intervening sooner.
“That's a failure of the school official in the classroom not taking charge of making sure that environment was safe for everyone,” said Neal. “It’s important that we still remember that they're children and they should not have ever been placed in that environment.”
RUSD spokeswoman Syeda Jafri said the district can’t share details on pending investigations but that they’re committed to providing safe learning environments.
“Rialto Unified School District appreciates the timely and sound decision made by San Bernardino District Attorney Jason Anderson,” reads the statement by Jafri. “The District will continue to promote a school climate building on a safe and nurturing environment where all our students have opportunities to thrive.”
