A former Central California elementary school principal is facing charges of cruelty to a minor after a horrifying video surfaced of him appearing to shove a student to the ground.
In the video, former Wolters Elementary School Principal Brian Vollhardt can be seen pushing a student in the chest, causing him to fall to the floor during breakfast time on June 7 in Fresno, California.
According to the Fresno Unified School District, Vollhardt and other staff members were interacting with an upset special needs student and the principal chose to aggressively shove the student down rather than de-escalating the situation in a calm approach. Then he proceeded to point his finger and reprimand the child as he cried on the ground.
The school district initiated the process to discipline Vollhardt at which point Vollhardt resigned and is no longer employed by the school.
School District Superintendent Bob Nelson called Vollhardt’s actions repugnant and absolutely not tolerated at any level within Fresno Unified.
The district says the incident has been reported to both police and Child Protective Services.
Fresno Police Chief Paco Balderrama says the incident was reported to police on June 9 but he was made aware of the incident on September 6, nearly three months after it occurred.
“I can tell you as a police chief in this community, I have a real problem as to the way that this child was treated. As a parent of a 9-year-old kid, which is a very similar age to the victim in this case and who also suffers from anxiety and doesn’t always handle situations in the best way, it is troubling as to how somebody who is supposed to protect this child and provide support, treated them,” Balderrama said.
Vollhardt is scheduled to be arraigned on a misdemeanor charge of willful cruelty to a minor on September 26th.
Child doesn’t handle situations in the best way, what BS.
Anxiety is something we all face.
If you don’t behave, expect outcomes not to your liking.
Probably another abuser of some kind. Children can be the worst abusers.. We will see if child’s future involves abusing many, many people because he hasn’t been taught how to handle situations.
Unfortunately, principal did what he had to do.
Another example of failing parent(s) and blaming others.
I would agree with you IF this child wasn’t special needs. You are correct in that a lot of kids are not taught how to handle every day problems which causes over the top imajor issues in school and society in general. This kid on the other hand is special needs and more than likely does not function on a level that other kids his age do. Looking at the picture he appears to be almost as tall as the teacher who is trying to handle the situation. Now the article doesn’t say and it doesn’t make it ok but the principle might not have known he was special needs and if he thought the kid was about to hurt the teacher or another student then that may be why he reacts so violently.
Something similar happened to my 10 yr old special needs son. My son was grabbed by the face, hit, and threatened by a FL school employee. Police said employee did nothing wrong even though there were multiple witnesses. How sad is that?!?!?!?!