Violence – Bullying Condemned After Chiefland Middle School Girl Assaulted in Cafeteria: Did Administrators Look On?
Posted March 11, 2021 03:45 pm | Updated 04:20 pm
Images via Instagram. SEE:
Video on Ashlee Marie Preston's Instagram Post
CHIEFLAND, FL – An incident that was posted to Instagram a few days ago, and has gone viral, has caught the attention of the Florida chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Florida), which today condemned the violent incident at the Chiefland Middle School in Levy County.
CAIR-Florida's
Central Florida Regional Coordinator Lara Abu Ghannam
said in a released statement, “CAIR-Florida is outraged
to learn of the attack on a young Muslim female student
at Chiefland Middle School in Levy County, Florida. Not
only are we disturbed by the physical attack on this
young student but also the jeering and laughing by those
witnessing the attack and the strikingly apparent lack
of intervention by administrators.”
“While we do not condone violence, we appreciate the one brave student who stepped in to defend her classmate as others laughed on.”
"CAIR-Florida continues to work on eradicating bullying from our education centers. We have contacted the school officials requesting an immediate investigation into this horrible incident.”
Ms. Abu Ghannam concluded, “We would like to see a reprimand of the administrators and students involved in initiating this violent bullying attack.”
CAIR-Florida offers anti-bullying/discrimination training and is ready to provide this to Chiefland Middle School and any other Florida school.
CAIR-Florida said it will continue to monitor the situation and asked anyone with information about this attack to contact them at info@fl.cair.com or call (833) CAIRFLA [833-224-7352].
CAIR-Florida's mission is to enhance an understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
Epiogue
This afternoon, Superintendent of Levy County Schools Christopher Cowart released the following statement to CAIR [as written]:
"We are disappointed by an incident which occurred two months ago at one of our campuses, which has recently received attention on social media platforms, this doesn't accurately reflect the values of the School Board of Levy County. The district has thoroughly investigated and followed through with its policies to address the matter with all those involved. The School Board of Levy County takes any form of fighting, discrimination, intimidation, harassment, and bullying seriously, and they are not tolerated on any School District campus. The District has policies that it rigorously follows to enforce those values. Student privacy laws prevent the district from commenting on the specifics of any particular case, but if a student or parent has a concern about a situation, they should contact their campus principal or the district. Our District's goals are to continually improve and we have grown from this isolated incident at one of our "A" rated schools."
Update: First paragraph updated and Superintendent Cowart's statement added.