Family: Bullying to blame for HISD school fight posted on social media

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- The mother of an HISD girl involved in a school fight that's been posted on social media is angry that the school didn't do more to prevent it.

Thursday morning at Barbara Jordan High School for Careers in northeast Houston started with a fight between two sophomore girls. Video of it shows hair and hands flying with classmates egging it on. A campus staff member broke it up and in the end, Ashley Felder, 16, walked away bloody.

"My nose was bleeding. My lip was busted and a lot of my hair was out," Felder told Eyewitness News.

The 10th grader says for months she's been in the girl's cross-hairs, a target on social media and the butt of jokes in the classroom-escalating to the fight. Her mother says it never should have gotten this far.

"Now it's on social media. My daughter's hair is pulled out. Her lip is busted. She's the laughingstock," said Annie Evans, Felder's mother.

Evans says she's been at the school five times since December asking that her daughter and the girl be separated. They have five classes together.

They promised me that she would be transferred out of the classroom this April and she still has all five classes," Evans continued.

HISD cites student confidentiality as the reason behind the general statement they provided Eyewitness News:

"Two students at Barbara Jordan High School for Careers engaged in a brief altercation on Thursday before school started. Campus officials immediately intervened. The matter was handled administratively, and the students were disciplined per the HISD Student Code of Conduct. We take these situations very seriously, as student safety is always our top priority. School administrators are working closely with the family to address their concerns."

Ashley and her mother know that by coming forward, more people will see the video they're not proud of but Ashley feels she's been bullied and the video has now forced her to take a stand.

"I know there's other people going through this and they feel they can't talk to anybody but they need to know they can," Felder added.

Evans tells Eyewitness News both her daughter and the other girl received a three-day suspension. They argue Ashley should not have been disciplined since she feels the fight was the result of bullying.