The Florida girl who was beaten in her middle school hallway is still being bullied two months after the vicious attack, a source close to her family has claimed.
The girl, who is not being named to protect her identity, was targeted as she was leaving the lunchroom at Sebastian Middle School in St Augustine on February 12, the insider told DailyMail.com.
She was then dragged to the ground by another student who repeatedly banged her head against the floor as their classmates crowded around cheering, clapping, and barking at the girl while they recorded videos of the incident.
The suspected attacker was disciplined by the school district in accordance to its student code of conduct and issued a Juvenile Civil Citation, the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office previously confirmed.
But the victim’s family feels the district has demonstrated a ‘sickening’ lack of action to protect the girl, the source revealed, adding that it ‘feels like the school was trying to slip this under the rug’.
The attack at Sebastian Middle is the latest in a slew of violent incident on school premises to make national headlines. It comes as nearly 50 per cent of schools in America reported an increase in fighting and violence.
A student who was enrolled at an institution in Florida’s St. John’s County School District attacked a fellow pupil in what appears to be a school hallway on February 12 this year
The student dragged a fellow classmate to the ground and repeatedly banged her head against the floor in the horrific fight as a crowd students stood by, barking and cheering
The girl was left with bruising on her face after the ‘traumatic’ attack on February 12, the insider told DailyMail.com.
‘This wasn’t a fight, it was straight up an attack,’ the source explained. ‘The [victim] ‘did not know her attacker’s name before that day. The [attacker] waited in the hallway for her to leave the lunchroom and attacked her from behind.’
District officials say the school ‘swiftly addressed’ the incident and took action against the attacker in accordance to the code of conduct’s guidelines for level four offences, which are classified as the ‘most serious’ infractions.
While the school refused to specify what discipline the student received, the Governor’s Office, which addressed the incident after video of the fight went viral online, said the pupil was ‘removed from the school’.
However, the victim’s family feels the school was ‘grossly negligent’ in the way it has handled the situation, the source said, citing how the girl is ‘continuing to be bullied at school’.
Students have continued barking at the victim, just as they did during the attack, the insider claimed. They also cited other allegations of bullying, including the girl having her lunchbox smashed and her backpack thrown about.
In addition to ‘legal justice’ for the victim, the family wants to see systemic change within the district.
‘They want the school and district to in the future handle incidents like these with plans which remove violent offenders from the school, as their own policy states they will, rather than allow children to have to return to school with fear,’ the insider said.
The St. John’s County School District told DailyMail.com that the alleged incident involving the lunchbox was addressed and handled by school administration.
A spokesperson, in a statement issued Friday, said: ‘All bullying incidents reported to school administration must be reported to the Florida Department of Education and Office of Safe Schools. FLDOE then makes the determination of whether the bullying is substantiated or unsubstantiated.
‘If a bullying incident has been reported and submitted by this student or family, it would have been reported to the state.’
District officials say the school ‘swiftly addressed’ the incident and took action against the attacker in accordance to the code of conduct. The St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office also issued the student a Juvenile Civil Citation, which is the state’s diversion initiative
Earlier this week, the district declined to discuss the incident in detail, but said in a statement: ‘This was an incident that occurred over a month ago, the school swiftly addressed, and consequences were applied in accordance with the St. Johns County School District’s Code of Conduct as a level 4 offense.’
The district’s code of conduct defines level four acts of misconduct as the ‘most serious’ and includes a variety of infractions including serious assault and serious battery.
Per the guidance, students who commit these offences will be issued sanctions that ‘include suspension and may include placement in an alternative school and/or expulsion’.
Students who commit level four offences may also be subject to criminal proceedings and referral to mental health services.
Despite taking place in February, the fight went viral earlier this week after the Libs of TikTok X account shared the video and falsely claimed the school was ‘trying to shove this under the rug’.
Jeremy Redfern, press secretary for Governor Ron DeSantis, responded to the incident and slammed the account for publishing ‘another lie about Florida’.
‘This incident happened months ago. The offender was disciplined and subsequently removed from the school,’ he tweeted, adding that DeSantis had previously criticized the account for sharing misinformation in another instance.
The Governor’s Office declined to comment, referring DailyMail.com to the Board of Education, which has not yet responded to our enquiry.
A survey by the National Center for Education Statistics conducted last year revealed that nearly 50 per cent of schools in America have seen an increase in fighting and violence. This graphic shows the percentage of public schools that recorded at least one incident of violence on school premises during the 2021-22 academic year
Fighting culture appears to be on the rise in schools across the US, with 46 per cent of institutions last year having reported an increase in fighting and threats between students during the 2021-2022 academic year.
The survey of 846 public schools, conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics, revealed that nearly 56 per cent of schools reported frequent disruptions due to student misconduct.
According to the survey, roughly 80 per cent of schools cited a need for additional mental health support.
Similarly, 70 per cent of schools said more effort needed to be taken to help students with social-emotional development, the data showed.
Earlier this week, it was revealed that a North Carolina student was arrested after he allegedly abused and repeatedly punched his middle-aged female teacher in the face.
Authorities took the teen into custody after a classmate filmed the profanity-laden physical attack at Parkland High School in North Salem.
Last month a sixth-grade girl was brutally attacked by another student at a California middle school, in a vicious attack that is said to have started during a dispute over a boy.
The onslaught saw the victim being ambushed by a classmate by pulling her hair then viciously punching in the face. The beating appeared to continue for almost two minutes before anyone intervened.
A North Carolina student was arrested after he allegedly abused and repeatedly punched his middle-aged female teacher in the face
Last month a sixth-grade girl was brutally attacked by another student at a California middle school, in a vicious attack that is said to have started during a dispute over a boy
Also in March, video went viral of a group of boys shoving a smaller student against lockers before beating him up at a Minneapolis school
Also in March, video went viral of a group of boys shoving a smaller student against lockers before beating him up at a Minneapolis school.
Two of the much larger boys then started pummeling the boy as he ducked down to try to avoid their violent swings.
Similarly, a teenage girl was charged with violently assaulting fellow classmate Kaylee Gain in a brutal attack on March 18.
Gain, 16, was left in a comma for two weeks after the beating near Hazelwood East High School in St Louis, which saw a teen girl beating her head repeatedly into concrete.
She was left with a skull fracture and frontal lobe damage, but has since been released from the intensive care unit.
Gain and her alleged attacker, 15-year-old Maurnice DeClue, who remains in juvenile detention, were apparently members of warring friend groups in their high school.
Text messages revealed the pair had agreed to the fight, with one messages showing they wanted to settle their differences outside their school one-on-one.
DeClue’s family previously told DailyMail.com that she is the real victim who was ‘harassed and bullied’ before the viral incident and hit back at calls to charge the 15-year-old girl as an adult.
Kaylee Gain, 16, was left in a comma for two weeks in March after the beating near Hazelwood East High School in St Louis, which saw a teen girl beating her head repeatedly into concrete
Kaylee Gain suffered a skull fracture and frontal lobe damage when her head was repeatedly smashed into the ground during a brawl (pictured) near her St. Louis high school last Friday
Two female students were filmed brawling with each other at Minneapolis’ Lakeville North High School in February. Teachers were seen struggling to pull the students apart during the lunch time brawl
Earlier this year, in February, video went viral of a huge lunch time brawl between students at a Minneapolis high school.
Shocking footage has emerged showing a huge brawl between students at a Minneapolis high school.
Two female students viciously attacked one another as teachers desperately tried to pull them apart. One of the girls charged at the other, sending her sprawling the floor as other students cry out in shock.
Teachers and fellow pupils tried to intervene and pull the girls apart. Police were called to the premises to provide ‘additional supervision’
