Schedule mistake puts teen face-to-face with girl who assaulted her, mother says

PAULDING COUNTY, Ga. — A teenage girl says she’s afraid to go to school after administrators made a mistake and put her in the same class with a girl who assaulted her last school year.

Channel 2's Tyisha Fernandes spoke with the girl's mother, who said she was so upset about this because her daughter was already having anxiety about starting class at East Paulding High School.

When she got to class, the source of her anxiety was there.

Channel 2 Action News obtained cellphone video of the fight from last year that shows a girl punching and kicking the teenage student.

The girl throwing the blows was suspended and arrested following the fight.

School officials assured the victim’s mother that the girl wouldn’t be in the same class with her daughter this year, but on Thursday, the first day of school, the two girls were face to face in a classroom.

“If you put her in there knowing what happened last year … y’all arrested her and everything, and then you put her in there, you put her in danger’s way,” the mother said.

TRENDING STORIES:

• Woman found dead at bottom of Stone Mountain; GBI investigating
• Woman wanted for throwing bricks into people's homes throughout metro Atlanta
• Mayor bans nighttime use of e-scooters in Atlanta

The mother told Fernandes she called the school immediately and they admitted they made a mistake.

“They called me and said they would change her schedule. Come Monday, she was still in that classroom,” the mother said.

Later that day, officials changed the schedule.

Now, the mother hopes the district will take this more seriously with other students.

“She does not feel safe at school,” the mother said.

Here is the statement the school sent Channel 2 Action News:

"In all PCSD high schools, student class schedules are generated by a software application. The software creates a schedule based on students' course needs. When conflicts arise the schools work to resolve those issues as quickly as possible. In the case at East Paulding High School, the conflict was brought to the attention of administrators on the first day of school and was resolved the very next day."

Cox Media Group