Lawsuit: Students forced to fight at North Forest ISD elementary school

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- North Forest ISD may be dismantled, but the school district is back in spotlight.

"We had to fight until the next class came into the gym," a former student said.

That student's parents now have filed a federal lawsuit claiming the elementary students were forced to beat each other at school. According to the suit, the incidents occurred in 2009 at AG Hilliard Elementary School in North Forest ISD. Plaintiffs attorneys wrote that teachers at the school were of the mindset that "...children who don't understand need to be beaten."

"I didn't want to believe it. I was in denial. I just kept saying it's a lie, it's a lie. Just didn't believe it," said Ms. Corbin who is a mother to one of the boys who claims he was repeatedly forced to attack other children.

Corbin says her son was just six years old at the time.

The suit details how sometimes groups of students were forced to gang up on a single child. They were each allegedly threatened that harm might come to them or their families if they didn't carry out the attacks. After once such attack, one student told attorneys the teacher told her "good job."

North Forest ISD has since been dissolved by the state of Texas. Victor Nash was principal at the time of the alleged attacks. Neither he nor his attorney have responded to our repeated requests Friday for comment.