An 11-year-old girl is afraid to go back to her Broward County school after her mother said weeks of bullying by other students turned violent.
Valentina was a new student at Margate Middle School this year after having recently moved to the United States from Bolivia. Her mother, Sesilia Bacaribera, said her daughter is still learning English and started getting bullied from day one at the school.
And despite making reports to the school, they said the bullying escalated to violence.
Video released by Valentina's mother and their family attorney showed the end of a violent encounter, with Valentina on the ground surrounded by a group of kids.
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That incident happened Oct. 13 outside the school. Bacaribera said her daughter was kicked, punched and pulled to the ground by her hair, which left her with bruising throughout her body and a bloody knee.
The family said that happened after weeks of bullying at the school. They also said they reported the bullying to the school more than once.
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"She's very hurt with everything that's happened. And me emotionally, besides me being a single mom and brought three kids to this country, I feel devastated as a mom for everything that’s happened," Bacaribera said in Spanish.
But in a statement, Broward County Public Schools said they take student safety matters seriously and took immediate steps to address the Oct. 13 incident.
"Upon learning of the incident, the school promptly conducted an investigation. The aggressor was identified and received appropriate disciplinary consequences in accordance with the Code Book for Student Conduct. The case was also reported to the Margate Police Department," the statement read. "The District and school do not tolerate any forms of bullying. The school administration launched a second investigation to address concerns raised during the initial incident and continue to work with the families involved in addressing the matter."
The family's attorney said after the incident happened, someone from the school suggested that Valentina find another school. He also said the school didn't take any action to help her continue learning from home or provide any sort of counseling.
"There's no doubt that their civil rights are being violated, she not being able to be taught by the school and the county, in fact they’ve been told to find another place and it's documented and she's getting verbally and physically abused, there’s police reports out there," attorney Thomas Cubit said.
NBC 6 has reached out to the Margate Police Department to find out if there was any criminal action taken after the incident, but we're waiting to hear back.
