School officials in the San Antonio Independent School District say they’re concerned about an incident involving a school safety officer and a student that was captured on video. There are questions about how the officer dealt with a student.
In the video captured March 29, Officer Joshua Kehm appears to grab 12-year-old Janissa Valdez as she struggles and flails. He throws her to the ground then picks her back up and handcuffs her. Valdez is a student at Rhodes Middle School in San Antonio Independent School District.
Jesse, who declined to give his last name, is the father of a seventh grade boy at the school.
"I think it’s pretty bad what happened to her. It was overaggressive by the cop," he said Thursday afternoon. "There’s been issues with the school’s disciplinary action toward kids fighting in school. It’s not an unknown issue. They’ve had to lockdown students in the classroom while they get everything situated. It’s been an ongoing issue with the school."
SAISD Board of Trustees President Patti Radle said the board was horrified by the contents of the video, but that the investigation is moving swiftly and thoroughly.
"I think we would want to be very clear to the community that we are certainly very, very concerned about what we saw on that video and we are certainly concerned about a thorough investigation and doing what is best for our students as we go forward in dealing with this incident," Radle said.
The district hopes the investigation will not take more than a few days. Officer Kehm is on leave pending the outcome of the investigation. Kehm could not be reached for comment.
