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Student injured in April fight at LEHS
By Emily Hill, ehill@starlocalnews.com
A fight at Little Elm High School at the end of April sparked tension and rumors among students and parents, but new developments revealed that a student was allegedly injured and emergency authorities were not notified.
According to Penni Jenkins and her son, Taylor, a junior at LEHS, Taylor was injured during the altercation, leaving him with a concussion and a cracked cheekbone. However, Penni Jenkins claims that LEHS staff, which later suspended Taylor for the fight, did not properly contact her about her son's injuries nor call emergency services to treat her son.
"My son had nothing to do with the fight. The school didn't get help for him, the [school resource officer] didn't try to help him," Jenkins said. "The superintendent claims she didn't know he was hurt."
"In the case of fighting on campus, students are removed for disciplinary reasons so that the investigation may remain true and witnesses cannot compare stories," the email said.
Taylor gives a different account of how the fight occurred than previously reported. He said he had walked out of the cafeteria that morning when a group of students started threatening to beat up a female student. Taylor said he was holding her bag and told her boyfriend to take her to class. Then he told the students threatening the female student to get to class.
"[They were] asking me if I want some [a fight] and they formed around me in a big circle. One kid shoved me and then I started to look at him. When I looked at him, I got hit from behind and they beat me," Taylor said.
Taylor was knocked to the ground, according to witnesses, and the students started kicking him. One witness said there were six to seven male students hitting Taylor.
"They hit me from behind and I blacked out for a couple of seconds. I started to get back up and they started kicking me in the back of the head," Taylor said.
One witness, who wished to remain unidentified, said she saw boys soccer coach Aaron Ziehm jump over the railing in the hall to reach Taylor and stop the fight. The students scattered and took off when other administrative members showed up to break up the fight. She said when Ziehm helped Taylor up from the floor, she saw blood on his lip and his eyes were watery.
The witness said that although she couldn't hear everything being said, she did see the fight happen. She watched as one student bumped into Taylor's shoulder and he fell against the railing. The witness said Taylor was walking away when one of the provoking students said something to him. Taylor then turned around and walked up to him and got hit.
"It was pretty intense," the witness said. "It kind of happened really fast. [Maybe] about 3 and half minutes--long enough for him to get jumped."
The witness claimed that the students who provoked the fight were athletes on the basketball and football teams. She was able to submit a statement to the school, but her friend was denied giving a statement.
"It's been a hectic school year," the witness said. "There's been a lot of fights, [and] a lot of other events. Nothing severe like this, but enough to make you tired. If I was a principal at Little Elm, I'd be tired."
She believes that the school lacks discipline and consistency enforcing discipline.
After the fight occurred, Taylor said he was escorted to the office where he sat in the nurse's office for over an hour. He claims she did not examine him, instead giving him a piece of paper with warning signs to look for if he had symptoms. A report on his involvement with the fight was filled out.
"The nurse was there, but she didn't do anything, just let him sit in her office," Penni Jenkins said.
Taylor said a family friend of his did bring him a Tylenol while he was in the office. He said he was sent home after being asked by staff if he wanted to go take the TAKS test since it was TAKS testing day.
"They asked if I wanted to go to class to do my test, and I told them I wasn't in the condition [to take it] so I went home," Taylor said.
In the email from LEISD, following an altercation, the school nurse "immediately examines students who may have sustained an injury and in most cases, they are not moved from the site of the fight--the nurse comes to them to ensure more emergency personnel are not needed and to prevent further injury."
According to the email, if a student exhibits any symptoms of a headache of any type after a suspected blow, the nurse follows a series of "professional protocol, including the student remaining physically present with the nurse under observation." If the student leaves, the nurse contacts a parent or guardian about the possibility of the injury and warning signs and the student is turned over to their care.
"As educators, we must treat all students fairly, even those who make unfortunate decisions," the email read. "We have a duty to maintain the confidentiality of student records--including those involving student discipline and health care."
According to student witnesses, some students were able to give statements on the fight but others were turned away by the office.
Jenkins took Taylor to the hospital that night when he arrived home from school. Later that weekend, Taylor's condition worsened and she took him back to the hospital. Jenkins was told that her son needed to follow up with a neurologist to ensure no permanent damage was caused.
Taylor and two other students were sent to Alternative Education Program (AEP), a separate learning environment for suspended students, for the remainder of the school year by the district because of the fight.
"My son was not going to stand there and let a girl get hit," Penni Jenkins said. "My son didn't even throw a punch [and he's] in AEP for fighting."
Penni Jenkins was later arrested on May 1 by the LEPD for harassment. She had called the school several times and said racially inappropriate slurs against LEISD staff, according to Little Elm Police Capt. Rodney Harrison.
"Racial comments, yeah, they were made, but at that point they didn't try to do anything for my son," Jenkins said. "My son could've been killed."
Taylor will appear in Teen Court in November to contest the fighting charge against him.
The Little Elm Police Department was contacted for the police report on the altercation at the school. However, LEPD Records Division Clerk Kaci McMillan said the department was required to submit the report to the Attorney General because the incident is still an ongoing investigation and involves juveniles, which must be reviewed to ensure what can be released. She said it could take up to 90 days for the Attorney General to respond.
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