Armstrong School District vows to punish student who attacked transgender teen
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The Armstrong High School student involved in the attack of a transgender teen late last month will be disciplined by the district and could face criminal prosecution, according to a school board member.
The Oct. 27 incident, which was videotaped and circulated on social media, shows 14-year-old Willow Andring being pulled down steps from behind and then punched repeatedly by a male student.
“The administration and the school board are well aware of this incident and the video tape that is circulating,” said Todd Luke, president of the Armstrong School Board. “We are 100% behind Willow and, as a board, we are listening to the community.”
The district has not identified the student who beat is accused of beating Andring. It also has not said whether other people were involved or how they would be disciplined. The incident is being investigated by Manor Township police.
Luke called the attack on Andring, who suffered a concussion, and a previous incident where students chanted vulgarities at an opposing female goalie during a varsity hockey game “very disheartening.” But Luke did not think they are signs of a larger cultural problem in the district.
“I don’t think it’s any worse here than in any other school in the country,” he said. “But it’s very concerning that, in the 21st century, we are still having these kind of problems. I was born and raised in this area, and it’s an embarrassment that this is going on. It’s not who we are.”
Board member Samantha Starr said she also doesn’t think the two incidents are indicative of a larger problem in the district.
She said both incidents were discussed at the Nov. 8 school board meeting and that they “are being addressed.”
“They are being handled well,” she said. “There’s no cultural problem in the district.”
Luke said school board members met with the teen’s mother, Heather Andring, in executive session at the Nov. 8 board meeting to assure her that the incident is being addressed.
“This is not something that can be put off until tomorrow. We need to start getting to the root of this today,” he said.
Andring said the attack on her child was preceded by name-calling, taunts and homophobic slurs that began earlier in the day during a lunch period.
She said the fact that the video is focused directly on her child raises questions about whether “there was some level of planning to have the recording.”
Andring said she is worried the incident could create a ripple that affects other students.
“We are fortunate that we have an amazing group of people in our life,” she said. “But what about the kids that don’t have the support that my kid does?”
She said she is concerned about the people who see something like this happen and “now can’t imagine ever disclosing their own identity or who thinks it may be better to not exist than to be who they are if this is how others treat them.”
Luke said one of the first obstacles facing the district is overcoming the lack of dialogue about sensitive subjects.
“We’ve got a lot of things people don’t want to talk about,” he said. “But we need to talk about them a lot more.”