NEW ORLEANS (WGNO)— A mother of two Akili Academy students is speaking out after two of her children were tased by another student on a school bus.
“She was tased, and not only was she tased, I did not find out until I got to the school premises that my 9-year-old son was also tased,” Tamika Calvin said from outside the hospital where her kids were being examined.
A 13-year-old was arrested and charged with two counts of simple assault in connection to the incident, which comes just one day after the arrest of another student of the academy who police say tried to get on a school bus while waving a gun. Calvin says the incidents of fights and violence at the school and on buses are a constant, and that she feels should be safe in the school’s care.
“When they step foot on that school bus, they’re now supposed to be safe because the schools are supposed to be responsible for them, and there’s nothing out here to protect these kids. There’s not.”
On Wednesday, Crescent City Schools, Akili’s Charter Operator, along with Superintendent Dr. Avis Williams and the NOPD’s Fifth District address the recent crime issues, assuring parents they were looking after every incident of violence.
“We understand that these incidents that we’re talking about only happened with several of our students. We understand that that has shaken our trust a little bit,” Kate Mehok with Crescent City Schools said in a press conference.
A trust Calvin says was violated on Wednesday. The mother says she’s looking for another school to send her kids to avoid putting them in a similar situation.
Justin Brown, who runs the social media account EmpowerYouNOLA, says that he’s spoken with parents and former students of the school.
“They’re saying that particular school is dangerous and if you don’t — and these were their words to me —if you don’t fit in, you will get bullied.”
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The school operators say they work to keep kids under their care safe.
“We take that really seriously and we want to make sure we are ensuring all our students have the great experience they deserve at Akili,” said Mehok.
