Madison Mom worried for son’s safety after school fight at East High School

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) - Disturbing cell phone video circulating on social media appears to show a series of fights between students in Madison schools.

In one of those videos, you see a student hit multiple times while sitting in his classroom. A Madison Mom says the video shows her son being jumped by other students, sending him to the emergency room after.

The boy’s parent says the incident happened on September 22nd, days after another student threatened her son as his job off campus.

After the initial threat, she says her family contacted school officials. “The school assured us that on Wednesday they had talked to the threatening party. Had a stern conversation and guaranteed that he would be safe,” she said.

Shortly after arriving to class last Wednesday, she says two students ran into her son’s classroom and attacked him. “The school did not call me, the school did not call my husband, the school did not call police. I reached out to the school when I received a text from my son,” she said.

The mother says she doesn’t understand how a fight can happen in a classroom. Video of that fight and others showing highlights of several recent fights at Madison schools are circulating among students.

The videos also raise questions about district policy, and student safety, now that school resource officers are no longer in Madison schools. The mom says to her knowledge, the students responsible have not been punished at this time. Since the fight, the mother has pulled her son out of school indefinitely in fear of his safety. She says she filed a police report and is disappointed the district did not take the matter more seriously.

NBC15 reached out to district officials who say they stand by how the incident was handled. A spokesperson for the district said the attack is unacceptable and says it wasn’t stopped because it happened so quickly.

“When the attack took place, the teacher reached out for assistance and by the time staff were able to respond the incident was over,” said Tim LeMonds, MMSD Director of Communications.

Last year the school board voted to get rid of student resource officers from the Madison Police Department.

When a fight happens, protocol is to go through the district’s internal safety and security director before making a decision on whether or not to call police.