NEW IBERIA, La (KLFY) — The mother of a New Iberia teen who was allegedly plotted against by a dozen students at Westgate High School is speaking out about the way the school is handling the incident.
She says ten students trapped her son in the boys’ bathroom while another student attacked him, breaking his jaw and multiple ribs.
She’s not only upset the school did not get her son medical help, but also the fact that the student who she says attacked her son only got a three-day suspension, while several other students who recorded and witnessed the fight were expelled.
The video shows 17-year-old Mauricio Brown being allegedly attacked by another student at the high school. It was captured on the cell phone of one of the other ten students who Brown says plotted this attack and blocked the doorways, preventing him from escaping.
Brown’s mother says the assistant vice principal told her some of the students were expelled, while others involved in the attack were merely suspended.
“They basically told me he got a three-day suspension. He was already back in school,” Brown’s mother, Yamile Corrales, said.
Corrales says the student that actually laid his hands her son, breaking his jaw and ribs, was one of the students who was only suspended.
“For any parent, they’d be like, well, let’s connect the dots. This doesn’t sound right,” she said.
She says she later learned that her the mother of her son’s attacker works in the Iberia Parish School District.
“My sister actually did ask the assistant vice principal, and he’s like, ‘Well I can tell you she does not work for this school. I can’t tell you directly, but she does not work for this school specifically.’ And my sister is like, ‘What school does she work for?’ And he’s like, ‘I can’t provide that information,'” Corrales said.
“She’s somewhere in the New Iberia administration in some aspect, but she does work for the school district.”
Brown’s mother tells News Ten she believes her son’s attacker’s connection in the school system may be why he was merely suspended, while other students who did not hit Brown were expelled.
“It’s just infuriating and crazy to me that in this day in age, we constantly have to battle with the school, that we constantly have to feel like our child is not protected,” Corrales said. “We have to be their constant advocates because the school and the system are failing them. Because the teachers that are there are biased. That’s how I feel in this matter.”
News Ten spoke with the Iberia Parish superintendent about why the student who is seen hitting Brown in the video was suspended and not expelled, like some of the other students who were there.
She says the suspensions and expulsions were decided upon by a disciplinary board, and she cannot give New Ten or Brown’s mother the details regarding each students’ disciplinary actions.
