BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB/Gray News) – The mother of a student got into a fight with other students after being let into the school through a side door, according to witnesses at the school.
The alleged fight took place at IDEA Bridge in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, around 7 a.m. on Aug. 22, while students were waiting for classes to start.
The Baton Rouge Police Department responded to the incident but said it is still investigating and charges are pending.
Corporal Saundra Watts confirmed that a mother was on campus and was let in through the door near the school’s gymnasium. Watts confirmed that the mother participated in the fight.
Student Jah’n’que Brown said she was defending herself against another student, his sister and his mother.
“She’s threatening her and saying, ‘Oh let’s go outside and fight, come on, we’re gonna fight’, stuff like that. Like, you know, just threatening her, and then everything just starts popping off. And I get hit,” Jah’n’que said.
Jah’n’que’s mother, Yakisha Brown, said she is worried for her children’s safety at school.
“There was a whole lot of lives involved in that and I feel it’s unjust, it’s just not right,” Brown said.
WAFB reached out to IDEA Public Schools and asked what security measures were in place, and if there were any security guards or staff members responsible for supervising.
“IDEA Bridge is aware of an incident that took place at our campus. We received reports that a physical altercation involving a parent took place. Appropriate staff were on site to respond to the incident. Duty personnel and administrators were able to diffuse the situation and remove the parent from the campus. All students and staff are safe. The campus partnered with local law enforcement in the investigation,” said Rebecca Suarez, Director of Communications.
Jah’n’que said that there was no one in the room to stop what happened.
“Nobody was in there. No teachers, no administration. We’re in the gym at the time, and they’re supposed to be in the gym. They’re supposed to be watching us, everyone. They’re supposed to be coming in the gym, and they’re supposed to be there before we even get in there,” Jah’n’que said. “We were there for like, a good five minutes. I’m not even gonna lie, like students were trying to stop it, yeah, but it was no, no administration or anything like that was there.”
On the IDEA Publis Schools website, the district ensures all campuses are closed meaning visitors can only enter through the main door.
Brown said this should never have happened and she hopes to see drastic changes to the security and safety protocol at IDEA Bridge.
“I feel like when my child goes to school, that her life is in their hands. So this makes me very very very worried to know that no one was there all that time that this was going on,” Brown said.“ We can’t leave no room for error, the wolves could’ve should’ve but it didn’t – that don’t exist today because of what’s going on in the world.”
Baton Rouge Police Department told WAFB that the case is still under investigation and they cannot provide additional details.
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