SAN ANTONIO — Parents of 14-year-old Nevaeh Glen are demanding accountability from Zachry Middle School in San Antonio after a video surfaced showing their daughter being dragged and punched by another student.
The incident, which occurred at the Northside Independent School District (ISD) campus, has raised questions about the school’s handling of bullying complaints.
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Nevaeh’s mother, Laura Salazar, said she had emailed the vice principal on the morning of the attack, expressing concerns about potential targeting of her daughter.
“I thought the VP that was calling me because he’s one of the ones I reached out to to call me back, but now he was calling me to tell me about the assault,” she said.
Nevaeh’s father, Jesus Salazar, added that his daughter had warned a teacher that something felt wrong, but no action was taken.
“According to my daughter, she told that teacher before it happened and to me, and I feel like the teacher just shrugged it off, they didn’t care,” he said.
The Northside ISD stated that the matter is ongoing and that campus administrators acted appropriately. They also confirmed that Northside ISD Police are proceeding with filing assault charges against the other student involved.
In a statement, Barry Perez, Executive Director of Communications for Northside ISD, said:
“The assault that took place is being addressed comprehensively through the NISD Student Code of Conduct. As previously mentioned to you, the disciplinary process is still ongoing. Furthermore, the Northside ISD Police Department is actively involved and is moving forward with the filing of assault charges.
We want to assure the Zachry Middle School community that student safety is of highest priority. The campus has established procedures to proactively address safety concerns, which have included: administrative presentations made to all students, guidance lessons led by professional school counselors, campus-wide messaging and initiatives on issues like bullying prevention, student mediation and conflict resolution, and clear avenues for the reporting of safety concerns both at the campus and district level.”
Despite returning to class, Nevaeh continues to face issues, with her mother noting:
“She’s trying to ignore everything as best as she can right now. She’s having stuff thrown at her head.”
Nevaeh’s parents are calling for the school to change its approach to prevent further incidents.
“Take accountability. An apology would go a long way. A phone call goes a long way. We asked for help plenty of times,” Nevaeh’s mother said.