RUSKIN, Fla. — Just across the street from Lennard High School, about two dozen parents stood outside Friday. The signs in their hands made their message loud and clear.
"We are just out here together with all our support to get justice for my cousin," Lily Gutierez said.
Her cousin is Wilter Ramirez. He's the teen seen getting body slammed in a video that has since been widely circulated on social media.
"It's hard. It's painful for me to see my son, to see the video. I couldn't watch the whole thing because it hurt to see the blood of my son," his father,r Georg,e told me.
The family said the doctor has ordered Ramirez to stay on bed rest. He's made multiple visits to the hospital.
"There are no words for what my cousin is going through, what my family is going through. I saw the video and just thought, what if he wasn't here today? What if we had lost him? I've lost so many family, and I can't lose him now," Gutierez said.
The family is calling for Lennard High School Principal Denise Savino's resignation. They're also calling for charges to be filed against the student who attacked him.
"It hurts us more to see that they don't really show care for their students or anybody who's in their system. It hurts. We don't want to see any other children of parents who are here to support us. We don't want their children to come home and say, 'Look, Mom, I'm probably in danger'. Or see them on the news. Showing them just like how my cousin was on that floor and see him laying there," she added.
I reached out to Hillsborough County Public Schools.
HCPS told us they have already handled discipline, but specifics can't be released due to private student information.
We do not tolerate this type of behavior on our campuses.
When administrators are aware of a potential fight, they can take proactive measures to intervene. However, if we are not aware, as in this case, we must then respond to the situation at hand, which we did immediately.
Our schools have a variety of resources and support, including a team of trusted adults, that students can go to if they are having issues with other students. We consistently remind students that there are other ways to resolve conflicts.
We as school leaders, parents, and community members need to be involved and help teens and young adults understand how they can address problems they may be having in a productive way.
However, the people standing in front of the school Friday felt there was not enough being done.
"Us as hispanics, we're never heard. We're just left behind," a parent said.
Parents reached out to us telling us this is an ongoing issue with fights at the school. They feel the punishments handed out are never strong enough. Now they want school officials held accountable.
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