The stabbing of a girl at Pleasantville Middle School highlighted previously ignored security concerns, according to several people who spoke at this week's Board of Education meeting.
"I would be nervous coming to school having to defend myself," Rodney Smith told the board Tuesday.
While police called the wound "a superficial laceration," the victim's mother told BreakingAC that her daughter suffered a stab wound about two inches from her eye.
BreakingAC is not naming the mother to protect the juvenile victim's identity.
The mom said she first notified the school about issues with her daughter's alleged attacker about two months before the knife issue. Texts shared with BreakingAC show the girl admitting to carrying knives.
Middle School Principal Nanette Stuart directed any questions to acting Superintendent Karin Farkas, who did not return a call seeking comment.
Farkas did tell people at the meeting that students who are suspended are entitled to home instruction after the fifth day or if they have 10 cumulative days on more than on suspension.
But the victim's mother was not aware of that.
Her daughter was already on suspension when she went to the school last week. The girl had permission to go on school grounds to get her missed work, the mom said.
She alleges that the attacker's father encouraged the fight and even gave his daughter the weapon. A video the woman shared with BreakingAC shows a man separating the two girls and then appearing to take a swing at the victim.
The victim's mother has filed reports with police, she said.
Pleasantville police told BreakingAC that the investigation surrounding the fight is ongoing and does including bullying.
"What if she didn’t get stabbed in her eye, but got stabbed in her heart?" the girl's godmother asked the board during Tuesday's meeting.
The district is in the process of a $2 million technology upgrade that focuses on safety and includes taking care of non-working surveillance cameras, board President Jerome Page told those gathered.
Board Vice President Sharnell Morgan thanked the community members who spoke, saying she did not know the depth of the issue before.
"Sometimes we don't find out until you all come and tell us," she said, urging people to keep bringing such issues to the board's attention.
"The school needs to be investigated," the girl's mother told BreakingAC. "Not only my daughter is having the same issue. It's a lot more that's not being talked about."
The only call she got from the school district was to let her know her daughter had been suspended another five days for the fight.
The first suspension also was related to safety, her mother said.
The girl was found with mace that her mother gave her after another girl was raped on her way to school. Registered sex offender Horece McZeke is jailed on those charges.
The woman said she was concerned after her daughter had two encounters involving a man, including him throwing sticks at her while she was walking through the path.
The girl had the mace for about three months before the school found it. She never used it or pulled it out at school, her mother said.
Tuesday night's meeting did little to officially address the security concerns, but put a spotlight on the festering animosity among factions of the school board.
Board members Julio and Elysa Sanchez, who are siblings, went head-to-head with board President Jerome Page several times during the meeting.
"This is one of the worst board meetings I've ever attended," said Regina Discenza, a retired Lacey Township Board of Education member who said she attends meetings around the state.
"If you can't control your conflict, how are these young men on the street going to handle theirs?" community activist Steve Young asked.
