ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – St. Johns County parents are raising concerns after a video clip circulated online showing a student attacking another at Switzerland Point Middle School.
The violent exchange happened Wednesday in an SPMS classroom and then in a hallway, according to witness accounts and the attacked student’s parents, who asked to remain anonymous.
“He was just blindsided by the whole thing and didn’t even know it was coming,” said the mother of the student who appeared to be targeted in the video clip. “He couldn’t even defend himself if you wanted to.”
The student who was attacked suffered a broken nose and multiple bruises, according to his parents.
“As a parent, I’m afraid,” the student’s mother added. “I’m afraid of the repercussions that might happen with the other students that are friends with this kid. I don’t know what to do. I have no answer. All I get from the school is ‘we can’t tell you.’”
The school sent an initial message after the fight on Wednesday morning, saying that an “incident occurred that caused the hallways to be cleaned,” and that “at no point during this was the safety of our students compromised.”
Good morning,
Today there was an incident that occurred that caused the hallways to be cleaned, which resulted in a delayed transition. At no point during this was the safety of our students compromised.
We appreciate how well all the students did with this interruption of their day.
Thank you,
SPMS Administration
Email memo - Mar 1, 2023, 11:36 a.m.
Parents, who spoke to News4JAX on the condition of anonymity, said they heard from their children after school Wednesday that the hallways had been closed for a period of time in order to clean up blood from the hallway that was a result of the attack.
“The initial message from the school was just a very cryptic, non-transparent email, making it seem like there was a spill or some type of mess in the hallway and that the school, cleaned it up,” another Switzerland Point Middle School student said. “[My child] proceeded to just tell me that there was a fight at school that day, and that there was blood in the hallway that this child was bleeding, which then made me realize exactly what that email was about.”
The word-of-mouth spread throughout the school community in the following hours, fueled by the violent video clip which was shared from parent to parent. Many of them called and emailed the school and the St. Johns County School District, demanding answers.
SPMS principal Linda Carnall sent a follow-up email, confirming that two fights had occurred, which were handled according to district policy and that, despite rumors, EMS was not called to campus and there was not an intruder.
Carnall did not disclose anything about disciplinary actions taken against any students but added a warning against students filming and sharing videos on campus, a violation of the student code of conduct.
Good evening,
I am writing to provide information about this week’s events and to ask for your assistance in keeping our school safe and healthy. There were two fights this week and those events were handled according to district policy. There is misinformation circulating and we want you to know that EMS was not called to campus, nor was there an intruder. As always, hallways are supervised by multiple adults throughout the day.
Please remind your child that recording videos on campus and disseminating them is a direct violation of the SJCSD Code of Conduct. This district policy is to protect the privacy of all students.
Please encourage your child to tell an adult on campus if they hear or see anything involving the safety of our campus, so we can intervene prior to an incident occurring. If your child is upset about anything that occurred this week, the counselors are available to offer support.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.
Sincerely,
Linda Carnall
Email memo - March 2, 2023, 6:07 p.m.
Several parents expressed frustration at the school’s lack of communication and transparency.
“I don’t think the second email that came out yesterday from the principal would not have had happened if parents weren’t calling or emailing,” one parent told News4JAX. “By just saying, ‘there was a cleanup in the hallway that needed to be done,’ That’s very vague, and it’s kind of shady.”
The parents of the student who was attacked said they had contacted the school as early as Friday, February 24, that their child was receiving threats and being bullied.
“It’s not worth paying for moving to St. Johns County for the schools anymore,” the student’s father said. “It’s unfortunate because we were given reassurances that our child was to be safe and we got those reassurances via email, nothing to worry about here. I just think the ball was dropped significantly and there has to be a postmortem, and an understanding of how to reset the process and do better next time - because it’s unacceptable.”
A spokesperson for the St. Johns County School District cited the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, or FERPA, as the reason no information about the attack could be released publicly. The school would not confirm whether the student was referred to law enforcement.