WASHINGTON (WJLA) — A mother hopes for changes at her daughter's school after her 7-year-old came home with two black eyes.

"It looked like she had been in a brawl," said Jewel Stroman.

That's what went through Stroman's head when she saw her daughter, Honesty, after school on May 3. Honesty attends Harmony DC Public Charter School in D.C.

"The school claimed that they called me after this incident happened, however, I didn’t get any missed calls on my phone from them," said Stroman.

I had all these questions running through my mind, like how did she get this injury? No one could give me a straight answer. The principal was saying one thing; the school administrators were saying something else.

It wasn't until Stroman started asking questions to staff that she got some answers.

"Finally, I was able to see surveillance video footage of what happened, and so we know that my daughter did fall while she was outside on the blacktop playing," said Stroman.

Stroman believes the blacktop conditions are not safe for children.

There are a lot of cracks in the blacktop. There are potholes, and there are rocks. Some of these rocks are like the size of golf balls, and so I feel like the conditions are hazards, especially when you’re talking about elementary school kids who are 6, 7, 8 years old," said Stroman.

In addition to that, Stroman is highly concerned with the response she saw from school staff on the surveillance video.

"I saw my daughter fall, and after she fell, she lay there bleeding. It was not a teacher who came to her aid or a DCP[C]S employee, it was another student. And so then, as the video went on, I’m seeing all these kids running to my daughter. And I’m like, where is the teacher? Where is the administrator, some kind of adult? I never saw that," said Stroman.

Stroman said when she asked her daughter what happened, Honesty told her the teachers were "congregating" on the other side of the blacktop.

"They weren’t even aware that she had fallen," said Stroman.

WJLA reporter Lianna Golden: What are you asking from the school administrators?

Stroman: "I want them to provide adequate supervision for the kids when they go outside for recess when they go for PE [physical education], when they go outside, period. And I want that blacktop to be fixed."

WJLA took Stroman's demands directly to the DC PCSB, asking the following questions:

  • What is DC PCSB's account of what happened on Friday, May 3, leading to the scrapes and bruises of Ms. Stroman's daughter?
  • She says after her child was on the ground, no teachers or staff came to her aid, only students. What is DC PCSB's response to that?
  • Due to safety concerns out at the playground (cracks/holes in the pavement) as well as DC PCSB's response to the matter, she feels staff has been negligent. Does DC PCSB have a comment on this?
  • Does DC PCSB plan to make repairs or improvements to the playground conditions?

WJLA got the following statement in return from Robert Lowe Spriggs, Director of Communication for DC PCSB:

We are conducting a thorough investigation into the incident to gather all the facts. We're actively engaged with the school and the parent to take care of this quickly and effectively.

"I just feel like they just want to make this go away as quickly as possible. They didn’t even send parents a notice about this incident, and I feel like the rest of the parents have a right to know what’s going on because today she fell, and it was two black eyes. Tomorrow it might be a broken nose," Stroman said.

Stroman said she'll speak with the board, who reached out to her to arrange a meeting, this week or next.

WJLA requested a copy of the blacktop surveillance video under the Freedom of Information Act since Stroman said she was unable to.

"I asked... and I was shut down," said Stroman.

Stoman said the school cited confidentiality issues as the reason why they were unable to release the video.

"I feel like they were upset because the video clearly shows that she didn’t fall in the way the school was claiming that she did. They’re saying it was her shoelace even though, like I told you, her shoes didn’t have laces. Then they said it was her sweatshirt, but clearly the video shows it was none of those things," said Stroman.

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