NASHVILLE, Tenn. -
A Metro mother says Wright Middle School dropped the ball after her son, an 11-year-old fifth grader at the school, came home bleeding with a big gash on the back of his head.
Tonya Young has lodged a formal complaint with the school board inquiring why no adult gave her son medical attention and why no one contacted her.
Young says the injury happened Tuesday afternoon when another student pulled a chair out from beneath her son.
The gash was about two inches long and required three staples, according to Young.
"As soon as I saw it I knew he needed medical attention," she said, adding, "I was very upset, and shaking. I couldn't believe they did not contact me."
Young says there is no school nurse so her son was sent to the main office which was bustling with activity late in the day.
"The secretary said to call home. He didn't call home because there was blood all over his hands. They gave him a report to fill out. They sent him back to classroom and he got on the bus with his head busted open. It was bleeding, a gash this big," she recalled emphasizing the wound with her fingers.
When he got home Young said she immediately took her son to the pediatrician's office.
"The nurse could not believe they did not contact me and I could not believe they didn't contact me," she continued. "They checked everything. His ears and his eyes to make sure he did not have a concussion. There was no communication. He could have had a concussion and could have passed out and nobody would know. Stuff happens, I get it, but what concerns me is I send my child to school, they have zero tolerance for bullies and horseplay and I have zero tolerance for them not calling me and not letting me know my son is hurt and bleeding and needs medical attention."
Young says she contacted the school and initially spoke with the office secretary.
"Her initial reaction was, 'I saw him and told him to call home,' and I said, 'So, it is my 11-year-old's responsibility to call home when he is hurt?' and she said, 'That is our protocol.'"
The next day, Young and her husband went to Wright Middle and met with the principal. Young says he was very understanding.
"He spent 90 minutes with us," she said. "He said yes he agrees with what I am saying and he wants to make sure this doesn't happen anymore and he wants me to feel safe."
Young says she filed a complaint with the district's main office so what happened to her son doesn't happen to another child.
Nashville's News 2's calls to the principal were not immediately returned.
Tonya Young's son was injured on Tuesday after a child pulled a chair out from beneath him.
