Parents want answers after teen with special needs gets attacked at middle school

"As a mother, how dare you touch my child? I don't care who you are," said the victim's mother.

Friday, February 17, 2023
Teen with special needs attacked at school; parents want answers
The video is difficult to watch for Lori Kaczmarczyk who says her daughter has special needs and the school failed to protect her.

WILMINGTON, Delaware (WPVI) -- A 13-year-old girl is recovering after she was violently jumped inside her classroom at Stanton Middle School in Wilmington, Delaware.

The video, which is making the rounds on social media, is being used by Delaware state police as part of their investigation.

"As a mother, how dare you touch my child? I don't care who you are," said the victim's mother, Lori Kaczmarczyk.

The video is difficult to watch for Kaczmarczyk, who says her daughter has special needs and the school failed to protect her.

The fight happened last week on her daughter's third day at this new school.

"They're all surrounding my daughter and watching her get kicked in the head and watching her friend get kicked in the head. And they think this is okay?" said Kaczmarczyk.

She says threats were made leading up to the fight. One student even wrote a threat on the whiteboard inside a classroom.

The teen's friend, seen on video wearing a grey sweatshirt trying to break up the fight, was also kicked and hit.

Their parents say the girls reported the threats to school staff prior to the fight.

"Basically asking for protection at least four different times and it went unanswered," said Sara Harms, the mother of the other victim.

The substitute teacher seen on video wearing red tried to intervene but ended up calling for an administrator.

The Red Clay School District says they are also reviewing video from inside the school and taking a deeper dive into why this happened.

Parents say more need to be done.

"It sounds like they're not able to discipline as they would like to," said Kaczmarczyk.

"A lot of more monitoring needs to be happening and a lot more money needs to be put into security," said Harms.

Delaware state police says the young girl seen punching the victim is facing assault charges and is expected to turn herself in on Saturday.

There's no word yet if any other students involved are being disciplined for their actions.

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