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A former elementary school principal in Fresno, California, was charged with the misdemeanor of "cruelty to child by endangering health" for aggressively shoving an African American special needs student to the ground.
Surveillance footage of the incident, which occurred on June 7 and was released earlier this week by the Fresno Unified School District, showed former Wolters Elementary School Principal Brian Vollhardt violently pushing a 9-year-old to the ground in the school cafeteria.
It is unclear what prompted Vollhardt to respond with such force, but the clip shows the student gesturing and pointing toward him twice before being pushed to the ground.
There is no audio in the footage and the student's face has been blurred.
You can see a news report in the clip below.
Warning: physical violence.
FUSD Former school principal facing charges after allegedly attacking special needs kidyoutu.be
In a news conference on Wednesday, Fresno Unified Superintendent Bob Nelson told reporters:
"Instead of de-escalating the situation, which is what we expect of an educator in our system, the former principal chose to aggressively shove the student down instead."
\u201c@EricG1247 WTF! \ud83d\ude27 He was a VP at my son\u2019s former school. And my son was in SPED. He handled all SPED issues. And he is a former SPED teacher I believe. I always really liked him. He was a great advocate for my son. So to say I am shocked is an understatement.\u201d— Eric Garcia (@Eric Garcia) 1662662722
The child's guardian, Ann Frank, told CNN affiliate KFSN that the case lingered until she complained about the lack of charges.
Frank said:
"You cannot put force to these kids like that."
"My son is autistic. Any parents seeing this video, they know what I'm feeling right now."
"My son was pushed with force by this principal who was supposed to protect him."
\u201c@EricG1247 if that was my son, man I\u2019m not even gonna say it on here. but im fuming just watching the video\u201d— Eric Garcia (@Eric Garcia) 1662662722
Vollhardt said the student "was yelling and getting in the principal/suspect's face" while making threats, according to an arrest warrant affidavit obtained by KFSN.
\u201c@EricG1247 Consider the mentality of a person that uses that much force against a much smaller (and much younger) person in what looks like a calm verbal interaction \ud83e\udd14\nThat\u2019s A Lot of Force for a human that small \ud83d\ude21\u201d— Eric Garcia (@Eric Garcia) 1662662722
Vollhardt self-reported the incident and was put on administrative leave on June 8 after the district was made aware of his behavior.
Nelson noted that the district also notified Fresno Police and Child Protective Services.
Before the district could complete an investigation, Vollhardt resigned.
He was later hired as a vice principal at Tranquility High School in the Golden Plains Unified School District (GPUSD).
\u201cA principal in Fresno knocked down a special needs student. He quit the next day and is now vice principal in another school.\u201d— Eric Garcia (@Eric Garcia) 1662662722
\u201c@EricG1247 His new job - Vice Principle\u201d— Eric Garcia (@Eric Garcia) 1662662722
Martin Marcias, the GPUSD Superintendent, said Vollhardt was placed on administrative leave after they found out about the June 7 incident on Wednesday.
\u201c@EricG1247 It's like moving priests to a different parish because they molested boys. Doesn't fix the problem. This guy needs to be arrested for assault.\u201d— Eric Garcia (@Eric Garcia) 1662662722
A Fresno Unified Trustee told CBS47 this was not the first time Vollhardt had a confrontation with African Americans.
The trustee said Vollhardt pinned the same child to the ground for several minutes back in May.
\u201c@EricG1247 That man should never work anywhere near children or hold any position that involves making decisions on their behalf! Too many good and deserving folks working in Education who can fill those positions and enrich the lives of (vs assault) students they serve. Dude needs to go!\u201d— Eric Garcia (@Eric Garcia) 1662662722
Superintendent Nelson added at the press conference:
"Let me be very clear, unequivocal on this matter, that there is no excuse for repugnant behavior such as this."