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Parents angry over MCPS response to high school fight that seriously injured son


Shane van Dyken (ABC7)
Shane van Dyken (ABC7)
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A frustrated family says Montgomery County Public Schools failed to provide proper medical attention to their son after he was injured in a fight at Magruder High School in Derwood.

The incident took place just before noon: lunchtime at Magruder High School.

The cell phone video obtained by ABC7 shows the violent altercation between two ninth-grade students. But it’s what happened after the fight that has Shane Van Dyken so upset.

“The whole system failed today. It just failed,” said Van Dyken, whose 14-year-old son is one of the two students seen fighting in the video. “My son is here at a hospital with a fractured skull and bleeding from his head and nothing was done at the school.”

ABC7 has learned that Van Dyken’s son did go to the nurse’s office to be checked out after the fight, but the school never called for an ambulance or additional medical assistance. Van Dyken says his son was vomiting and staff at Magruder knew something was wrong.

“They told his mother, your son is puking, I think you need to take him to the emergency room,” he said. “They didn’t call an ambulance, they didn’t call nobody. They told her told her to take him to the emergency room. It makes no sense.”

Montgomery County Police were not called until 2:17 p.m., more than two hours after the fight took place. Even then, Van Dyken says police were only called at his request. Montgomery County Police confirm they are now investigating the incident as an assault.

ABC7 has also learned the school resource officer at Magruder High School was out sick on Tuesday.

“They didn’t call the police. I had to get there and call the police and file a report,” Van Dyken said. “They told me to come back tomorrow to talk to the school resource officer.”

While he stayed at the school to try to get answers about what had happened, the child’s mother rushed him to Montgomery General Hospital and then Children’s National Medical Center in Northwest Washington.

“He’s hurt pretty bad. We’re waiting on more X-rays and seeing if surgery is in the future, we don’t know yet,” Van Dyken said. “Bleeding inside the brain right now, a fractured skull – it’s a mess.”

Derek Turner, a spokesperson for Montgomery County Public Schools, says the child’s parents were notified immediately after the fight took place. He said the injured student’s health and safety is the district’s primary concern.

Turner also said that Van Dyken’s son walked out of the school building with his mother, and without assistance, at 12:50 p.m.

Since Magruder High School has its security staff, Turner said the district typically does not call Montgomery County Police to respond to fights between students.

The school district will closely review what happened and Magruder’s response to determine what, if anything, should have been done differently.

Magruder principal Leroy C. Evans sent a letter home to students and families that said two ninth-grade students were involved in a physical altercation and that “this incident was immediately reported to administration and security.” The letter goes on to say that this type of behavior will not be tolerated at the school. The principal said staff “will swiftly and appropriately address disciplinary and other consequences as we finalize our investigation.”

Van Dyken feels that school staff should face consequences as well for their handling of the incident.

“I feel that Magruder dropped the ball completely. They should’ve taken care of my son,” he said.

ABC7 asked Montgomery County Public Schools what the district’s protocol is regarding whether police and medical personnel should be notified when a child is injured at school.

Turner said that school nurses are employees of Montgomery County’s Department of Health and Human Services. A spokesperson for that department said there is no written protocol for when an ambulance is called, saying it all has to do with the symptoms a student is showing while in the health room.

The Department of Health and Human Services doesn’t yet know exactly why an ambulance wasn’t called in this case, but the incident will prompt a review of its policies and procedures. A spokesperson said they’re limited in what they can say due to patient privacy laws. It remains unclear how many school employees were present when Van Dyken’s son began to get vomit inside the school.

“I want my nephew to be OK, first and foremost, and I think he’s in a great place at Children’s National. I just wish he’d have gotten here a lot sooner,” said Kimberly Holmes, who is Van Dyken’s sister and aunt of the injured student. “He should’ve been taken away by an ambulance. Someone should’ve been called.”

The family said they will continue to push for answers in the coming days and weeks.

“They make it seem like it was no big deal, but it really was,” Van Dyken said. “Magruder failed my child.”

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