Parent seeks accountability from Bibb County Schools after daughter was assaulted

It’s been several weeks since Jessica Strohmetz got a March 24 call from her daughter’s school nurse, alerting her to an altercation that has prompted an extended fight for more information and transparency over the incident.

Her eighth-grade daughter had been punched in the face by a male student at Rutland Middle School, Strohmetz told The Telegraph, causing a deep lip laceration, loose teeth and significant bruising. Her daughter needed five stitches as a result, she said.

“The nurse told me my daughter wouldn’t be on the school bus home because she was in the nurse’s office being treated after a ‘little altercation,’” she said.

Strohmetz alleges the district mishandled a preventable incident and did not follow its student code of conduct. She also alleges that no disciplinary action was implemented for the student who hit and injured her daughter.

“The school’s failure to act appropriately at multiple points throughout the day, and failure to provide proper supervision played a direct role in the violent assault of my daughter,” Strohmetz wrote in multiple complaints emailed to district officials.

Strohmetz said the male student had allegedly harassed and bullied her daughter throughout the day, before the incident escalated while a teacher had briefly stepped out of the classroom.

Strohmetz also raised concerns about a delayed police response, saying school officers were only contacted after she followed up with the assistant principal the next day. She said the school did not immediately provide her an incident report.

“It took six weeks, multiple emails, escalation, a visit to the board of education meeting, and an open records request just to get an incident report that they were supposed to provide to me on the day of the incident,” Strohmetz said.

School officials respond

The Telegraph asked BCSD district to clarify its policies for documenting physical student altercations and involving campus police.

“Bibb County School District and Rutland Middle School leadership have been in communication with the parent regarding her concerns. BCSD reviews and responds to incidents according to protocols outlined in the Student Code of Conduct, available at www.bcsdk12.net,” district spokesperson Stephanie Hartley said in an email.

An incident report from Bibb County Campus Police, which Strohmetz provided, says classroom footage shows the male student “holding his middle finger up” toward her daughter. Her daughter then struck the student on the shoulder, after which he punched her in the mouth.

In the report, an officer only identified as Sgt. A. Bellamy noted that three teacher statements did not support claims of ongoing harassment between the students. It described the incident as an isolated altercation.

Bellamy said he also received three student statements — one aligning with the teachers’ version of events and two from students who appeared to be friends of the girl, who said she had been bullied.

Bellamy reportedly informed Strohmetz that no charges would be filed because her daughter hit the other student first.

Strohmetz disputed the self-defense conclusion and requested a reevaluation, but said law enforcement upheld its original decision.

“It feels like they’re blaming my daughter for standing up for herself,” she said. “I’m not asking them to ‘throw the book’ at anyone, but there has to be some accountability for what’s happened here.”

She added, “The way I see it, either my daughter started it, and she should be disciplined, or she didn’t start it and was attacked. You can’t have it both ways. Yet, there’s no disciplinary action against her. So, if she was the one responsible, then, why is there no reprimand?”

Rutland Middle Assistant Principal Eric Thomas requested that the male student attend school virtually for the remaining school year, a reporting officer wrote in provided documentation. The Telegraph could not confirm if the student remains at the school or has faced consequences.

BCSD said it cannot discuss specific student disciplinary matters with anyone other than a parent or guardian due to FERPA laws.

Emotional impact

As of May 12, Strohmetz said she still hasn’t received any updates from the district, and her daughter is attending school virtually.

“For the first week or so after the incident, she could hardly sleep. She lost an appetite. It affected her very strongly,” Strohmetz said.

She said her daughter will likely need a surgical dermatologist to treat permanent facial scarring. She also said her daughter has expressed embarrassment over her appearance and has suggested wearing a face mask if she returns to school.

“She wants to go back. She misses her friends and wants to be in class,” Strohmetz said. “But every day she asks, ‘Is he still there? Did anyone do anything yet?’ And I still have no answers for her.”

Strohmetz said she is considering seeking a restraining order if the school can’t maintain distance between the students.

Strohmetz said her daughter tried to alert a teacher, who was allegedly dismissive, before everything escalated.

“She told me, ‘I don’t think (the teacher) realized that I was trying to ask for help,” she said. “That brought me to tears then, and it does now, because she tried to ask for help.”

What’s next?

Strohmetz said she plans to attend every Bibb County Board of Education meeting until her concerns are addressed. She is also considering filing complaints with the Georgia Professional Standards Commission.

“It’s not just about my daughter,” she said. “It’s about all the students who feel their safety is secondary (and) who feel their safety depends on luck instead of leadership.”

She added that Rutland Middle has had other reported incidents of violence and said some parents have also tried to increase visibility of the issue.

“Our children shouldn’t have to be exposed to public scrutiny just so schools will follow their own policies,” she said. “The policies aren’t the problem — it’s the lack of enforcement. I’m trying to figure out why the school isn’t holding students accountable for violent incidents and bullying right under their roof.”

Rutland Middle had 1,000 total disciplinary incidents in the 2024 school year, an increase from 801 total incidents in 2023, according to the state’s K-12 Student Discipline Dashboard. Student enrollment trends may or may not have contributed to the increase.