A man the district identified as a teacher is seen in the video picking up the student and throwing her to the ground during a game of musical chairs.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A 16-year-old student at Westside High School says she left with a concussion and bruised ribs after a teacher slammed her to the ground while playing musical chairs at a pep rally.
Nyla Millikan said what was supposed to be a fun activity, quickly turned painful.
Her family now plans to take legal action, calling the behavior “inexcusable.”
Millikan is a junior at Westside High School and says she’s missed class this week because of an incident at a school pep rally.
A video of the incident shows a man, identified by Duval County Public Schools as a teacher, grab Millikan and slam her to the ground as they fight for a chair during a game of musical chairs.
We are not releasing the name of the teacher at this time as he has not been charged with a crime.
Millikan’s mom received a received a call from the school describing it as a scuffle, but her daughter told her a different story.
“I pulled the chair a little bit, ran a little bit, laughed, sat down, but then it all happened to blur. I sat down, he grabbed me, and then pulled me, hitting me in the ground,” Millikan recalled.
Her mother says that when Millikan got in the car that day, she was “crying and in pain.” She says her daughter told her a teacher had slammed her to the ground. She ended up rushing her to the emergency room with severe head and side pain.
The family says medical exams revealed Nyla suffered a concussion and bruised ribs.
The Duval County Public School District sent a statement saying in part the staff member was reassigned to duties without student contact while the district’s Office of Professional Standards investigates.
The district says because it’s an active investigation, they can’t provide any other details.
For this family, it’s now about demanding accountability, saying they are working with a law firm to take legal action. “No teacher should be putting their hands on nobody’s kid. I don’t care — I don’t care who it is,” Millikan’s mother said.