The Singleton family says their daughter is one of the girls seen on two different videos showing fights between students at Raytown South High School.
Aaron Singleton told 41 Action News that after hearing from their daughter that she was having issues with a student, his wife called three times in the days leading up to the first fight in November, when their 14-year-old daughter was suspended for nine days for her involvement.
“Left voicemail. They said, 'We’ll call you back.' They never got back til 30 minutes prior to the gymnasium incident, 30 minutes prior. By that time, it’s too late,” said Singleton.
Raytown School District could not confirm the Singleton’s account, but they do say they met with the family multiple times after the first fight to mitigate issues their daughter was having with others in school.
"They did get the classes changed and changed advisory periods and all this," said Singleton.
The second fight
Singleton claims warning signs of an imminent fight popped up again after a student skipped a class and told the teacher it was because she wanted to fight Singleton's daughter.
On Feb. 18, that imminent fight happened between Singleton's daughter and a different student not part of the first fight in November. It was caught on camera again.
"It's pretty violent. We called it an attack is how we described it," said Singleton, who says his daughter suffered a concussion and was suspended again before the video surfaced. The suspension has been rescinded and the Singleton family has pressed charges against the other student.
Raytown School District's response
In a statement provided to 41 Action News, Raytown School District says:
“The Raytown School District is aware of and has reviewed the video taken of a fight during class. We regret choices students make when participating in fights and encouraging fighting by videotaping it. The District has attempted to partner with the student who shared the video in a number of ways, including extensive conversations and meetings with the student herself and with her family. While we are unable to discuss specific information about student disciplinary actions, the District has followed investigation protocol and offered due process in this and other incidents in which the student has been involved.”
What's next for the Singleton's
The Singleton’s will not be sending their daughter back to Raytown South, rather they are looking for alternative schooling options.
“Either a private school, an alternative school or the other Raytown high school. We looked into Lee’s Summit, there’s a giant tuition involved for out of district.”
-----
Brian Abel can be reached at brian.abel@kshb.com.
