Parents of a Glendale student have expressed outrage after a teacher allegedly assaulted their son during a class at Woodrow Wilson Middle School. The incident reportedly occurred on April 10, according to the student’s mother, Edit Novshadyan, who claimed that school officials attempted to cover up the incident following their complaint.
Novshadyan described her disbelief at the situation, stating, “How could this happen in this day and age?” She alleged that her son was assaulted by his 7th-grade math teacher in an unprovoked attack.
“I get a text message from him saying, ‘Mom, my teacher hit me,’ and I wrote to him, ‘What? Are you kidding me? Are you serious? Are you messing with me?’ And he’s like, ‘No, Mom. My teacher hit me.’”
According to Novshadyan, the incident began when the teacher asked her son to stop eating in class. When he turned to speak with another classmate about a math problem, the teacher allegedly approached him from behind and slapped him.
“She was shaming him very badly,” said Roland Bagdasaryan, the boy’s father. “Yelling at him, ‘How dare you! You’re bad, you’re not a good kid. You’re making stuff up.’”
In addition to physical bruises, the boy was verbally belittled by the teacher for his alleged “bad behavior.” A cellphone video captured by a student during the altercation’s aftermath showed the teacher allegedly defending her actions.
“I’m not afraid of you or your parent or your lawyer, whatsoever!” the teacher is heard yelling at the student. The boy replies, “You can’t hit me,” to which the teacher counters, “Yes, I can!”
The family’s attorney, Armen Akaragian, stated that the student who recorded the exchange was instructed to email the recording to the vice principal and then delete it from his phone.
“We need the truth,” Akaragian said. “Especially when we drop off our kids at schools, where we as parents drop them off in a place where they think they’re safe. Unless school districts come down on their teachers and tell them there are going to be major consequences for this conduct, it’s just going to continue.”
Some concerned parents hope the district will implement policy changes to prevent similar incidents in the future.
“Why was she allowed to continue to teach after an assault?” Novshadyan asked. “She assaulted a child. She should have been escorted off campus pending an investigation. There are rules that she has to follow and rules that [the student] has to follow. She can’t hit a kid.”
A spokesperson for the Glendale Unified School District responded to a request for comment, saying, “We are aware of the allegation and are thoroughly investigating. In order to maintain student and employee confidentiality, I cannot comment further.”
School officials have not yet announced whether any disciplinary action will be taken against the teacher. Novshadyan said her son is still traumatized by the incident and has not returned to campus since. The vice principal called to inform them that her son’s class schedule had been changed and that the teacher involved would not be on campus the following week.
However, the family stated these actions are insufficient and believe the teacher, who has not been identified, should either resign or be terminated for her conduct.
