SPRINGDALE, Ark. — Tuesday, Oct. 19, the Springdale School Board listened to a complaint from Fort Smith attorney Joey McCutchen about a lack of safety at Lakeside Junior High.
“What we want to do is for the Springdale school system to take this matter seriously,” McCutchen said
A video was taken Friday that shows Tim and Melissa Reynolds’ daughter being hit several times by another student.
“I was very upset, and I was very disappointed in the school for not protecting my daughter,” Melissa said.
The Reynolds say their daughter was targeted and threatened weeks before the fight because of a TikTok challenge and say their daughter told school staff about it.
5NEWS reached out to Springdale Schools about this, however, the district says it cannot comment on cases involving those under 18.
In Tuesday’s meeting, the school district touched on school safety.
“Work to provide training sessions to teachers and school personnel which is designed to respond to threats of violence and prevent violence on campus,” said the district’s Safety Liaison Rusty Johnson.
The Reynolds’ attorney says that’s not what happened on the day their daughter was hit several times, saying the school lacked supervision.
“My clients, in particular, trusted their daughter to the school system, and she took a severe beating,” McCutchen said.
“She loves her school,” Melissa said. “She takes pride in her school and now she’s scared to go to school.”
Following the altercation, the Reynolds say their daughter was harassed on social media and they don’t think the punishment was appropriate.
“This young lady was put back into a hostile educational environment,” McCutchen said. “Our parents have to be able to trust that whenever they send our children to school they’re going to be safe and that’s the bottom line.”
McCutchen says he and the Reynolds are not planning on suing just yet. As of right now, they are trying to gather all the information from the school.