Altoona Area Superintendent Brad Hatch said he was “mortified” upon seeing video footage of a March 23 incident in which a female sixth grader was attacked from behind outside the Altoona Area Junior High School during dismissal.

In response to several parents and community members who spoke during the public comment portion of Monday’s school board meeting, Hatch stressed the importance of communication between parents and teachers, school administrators and local law enforcement.

“Without getting into details, there were scenarios and circumstances during this and other events that I believe could have been avoided had all of our communication been better,” Hatch said.

A video of the incident circulated online and showed the victim’s hair being pulled from behind by a female student, who threw the victim to the sidewalk along Seventh Avenue near a school bus and began striking the victim’s head and neck area.

Another female student was shown grabbing the victim’s arm and striking her in the back of her head and neck until a male student interfered to stop the fight, at which point the video ended.

The altercation lasted for about 31 seconds, according to Casey Mabry, the victim’s mother, who called the situation a “preventable failure” in supervision, communication and response during the meeting.

Angel Homan, the mother of the second female perpetrator, took to the microphone to formally apologize for her daughter’s behavior.

“There’s no excuse for violent behavior for my child or any of my children,” Homan said while addressing Mabry and the board, nearly in tears. “I take full responsibility for my daughter’s actions.”

Homan said her daughter is learning how to resolve conflicts more maturely.

“We are also taking this opportunity to help my child to learn and grow and to make better choices,” she said.

Several community members, including former Blair County NAACP President Andrae Holsey, spoke out about bullying in the district, noting the community remembers others, like Wyatt Lansberry, who was bullied so badly at the same school that he took his own life at the age of 12.

Anti-bullying policies alone don’t protect children, Holsey said, adding adult action and intervention does. Less than a month ago, the only direct intervention in the beating of a female student was the male student who stepped in between the punches as they were landing, Holsey said.

“You, the Altoona Area School District, are the adults responsible for protecting our children when they are on your property and yet again, you’ve failed,” Holsey said.

Hatch said bullying isn’t unique to Altoona Area and incidents like this “speak to our society and our culture.”

“It’s something that we have to try to change and we can only do that together,” Hatch said, adding that parenting is becoming more and more challenging and difficult.

The social challenges students face is also becoming more difficult with the distractions and perversions that are available at their fingertips 24 hours a day, Hatch said, noting students see negative influences every day on social media, cable television and streaming platforms.

“It is not the world that I remember. It is not the world that any of you grew up with,” Hatch told the attendees. “And without the partnership between the home and the school, we will continue to have challenges with preventing incidents of this nature.”

Hatch said he would love to be able to promise that certain students won’t use inappropriate language, act inappropriately or make poor choices.

“I can’t do that,” he said. “What I can promise you is that we will work tirelessly on a daily basis to collaborate with parents and students in the community to create an environment that doesn’t allow for something like this to ever occur.”

School board President Val Mignogna said every school board member is approachable and publicly available by email.

“We don’t accept what happened. We want to do better,” Mignogna said, adding the board authorized Hatch to pay staff to stay an extra 15 minutes at the junior high and high school as an added deterrent.

The board also previously voted and approved putting armed guards in every school and increasing camera coverage to improve the safety of the district’s students.

“We’ve tried to be as proactive as we can. We care deeply about what’s going on,” Mignogna said. “We have great compassion for the children, (and) we felt horrible seeing that video.”

Mignogna said the board isn’t making excuses for the March 23 incident.

“We will continue to try and make things better,” he said.

Renovation project

In other business, the board voted 6-1 authorizing the district to contract with an engineering firm to design and provide a construction estimate for a renovation project at Mansion Park Baseball Stadium and Independent Youth Baseball Field.

Board Vice President Kelly Irwin Adams opposed the resolution, while board members David Francis and Justin McCaulley were not present at the meeting.

The base proposal will include turf installation and corresponding drainage systems, new fencing, spectator stands and a structure that will include a press box, restroom and concession areas, according to the meeting’s agenda.

Hatch said the potential project would provide improved and low maintenance fields for the district’s baseball and softball programs.

The engineering cost is estimated to be between $20,000 and $30,000, Hatch said, adding it will be paid from the 2025-26 operating budget.

Mirror Staff Writer Matt Churella is at 814-946-7520.