Mother of bullied child responds to rumors as San Angelo ISD addresses video

SAN ANGELO — Officials with San Angelo ISD said Tuesday they were sickened and frustrated after video surfaced of a student punching another classmate in the face last week at Glenn Middle School.

Public reaction to the video has stirred outrage about bullying on San Angelo campuses — including controversy as to what may have led to the altercation.

"Bullying is never OK. Retaliation is never OK," said Shara Beard, a concerned parent who addressed the school board during its Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2019 meeting.

Beard said her child had been the victim of bullying at Lincoln Middle School in October, and urged the school board to do a better job communicating with parents who reported such cases to San Angelo ISD.

According to Beard, when phone calls weren't enough to get the attention of school officials nearly a month after her son was bullied, her family turned to social media.

Beard said she received a response from the district after a post with images of her bruised son's face received more than 3,000 shares on Facebook.

"It should never take such extreme measures," Beard said pointedly. "My son's pictures should never have had to go on social media for me to get this issue to move forward and for things to change."

"Bullying is not acceptable and should never be tolerated, downplayed, or swept under the rug," she said.

More:How school districts in and around San Angelo address bullying

Lanny Layman, San Angelo ISD board president, sympathized with Beard and other concerned parents.

"This is an emotional issue for all of us ... the people on this board are passionate about these kids," Layman said. "We want to assure our community that the safety and well-being of each student in San Angelo ISD is our highest priority."

Last Saturday, school representatives promised "swift disciplinary action" would be taken based on the SAISD Code of Conduct concerning the incident at Glenn Middle School.

What happened in the video

On Nov. 12, 2019, Candice Schneider picked up her 14-year-old son, Lance, and said she could tell something was wrong.

"His face was really red, and he had tears coming down his eyes," Schneider said.

Lance, who didn't say anything about the incident to school officials, told his mother he was assaulted in a campus bathroom while other boys watched.

Another student filmed the confrontation on a mobile device. It was not clear who took the video or initially posted it to social media.

More:Glenn Middle School to take 'swift disciplinary action' after video shows student bullied

The 40-second video, which had been viewed upwards of 75,000 times as of Wednesday, shows at least six students looking on while another student confronts Lance.

As he leans against a bathroom wall surrounded by other students, a boy walks up to Lance.

"Do you want me to stick you? You want me to show you what 'stick you' means?" the boy says.

Lance tells the boy he does not know what 'stick you' means and says he doesn't want to know.

About 30 seconds into the video, the boy swings his fist and it connects with a hard slap against Lance's cheek. The video ends shortly after with no reaction from Lance. 

Schneider said Lance hasn't returned to school since the incident and will stay home for the time being.

What SAISD plans to do about bullying in light of video

During Tuesday's school board meeting, Layman expressed remorse about the recent bullying taking place on San Angelo ISD campuses.

"It's personally nauseating ... and incredibly frustrating that circumstances happen that take students away from the classroom," Layman said. "We'll do as much as we can in the future to ensure that we have the safest environment for our students."

Layman announced several steps district officials would take to reduce bullying — many of them involved meetings between counselors, staff, middle school principals and students about school culture and safety.

"We as a district will be better because of these events," Layman said.

Mother says her son is a victim of bullying, and didn't start fight

Since the video surfaced, public reaction to Schneider's son getting bullied at Glenn Middle School has been fierce, and not all of it in Lance's favor.

Several comments from people on social media have suggested Lance was targeted by a group of students who sought retaliation after he behaved inappropriately toward a female classmate.

Schneider said such an incident did occur, but believe's it's been blown out of proportion.

More:San Angelo ISD accused of not upholding bullying policy after elementary student choked

"One week prior to the fight, (Lance) made a weird noise behind a girl in class —, a kind of 'ah, ah, ah' sound," Schneider said. "It's not the first time he's made weird, silly noises in class; he makes them at home around us too. ... He got in trouble for it at school."

Schneider said she's seeking medical help to understand Lance's behavior.

"We're in the process of getting him tested for autism," Schneider said, and during an earlier interview stated her son's mannerisms have been the target of bullies his entire academic life.

"Kids can be very ugly, and they can be judgmental, and if someone is different, they will gravitate toward that person ... and Lance is different," she said.

Jamie Muñoz, another concerned parent who spoke during public comments at Tuesday's meeting, said what happened to Lance is more than likely just the tip of an ugly iceberg.

"There's so much more going on out there that isn't online ... that we don't know about," Munoz said.

"If more parents would just sit down with their kids and talk, I really feel like so much more would change," Munoz said "We are the most important influence in our children's lives."

John Tufts covers enterprise and investigative topics in West Texas. Send him a news tip at JTufts@Gannett.com.  Consider supporting West Texas journalism with a subscription to GoSanAngelo.com.