Dori: Mom of Graham-Kapowsin student with special needs says he was attacked

When Nelle Vance got a call from Graham-Kapowsin High School alerting her that her son was being suspended for being “an active participant” in a Monday morning on-campus brawl, the news made no sense, as she told The Dori Monson Show.

Vance said she couldn’t understand how her son, Landon — a student with special needs, including a communication disability — could have willingly participated in what many around the Pierce County campus refer to as “the fight club.”

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Moments later, her phone lit up with messages and heart-wrenching videos that showed one boy in a second floor restroom brutally beating her son.

“My son did not throw a punch,” Vance said.

At one point, as the videos corroborate, Landon fell to the ground and a chipped tooth appeared to fly across the floor.

Warning: This video depicts scenes of a high school fight at Graham-Kapowsin High School that may be disturbing for some viewers.

These videos fuel her anger, Vance says. Not only did the boy beating her son receive the same three-day suspension, but social media posts Vance shared with Dori show the boy bragging about the fight, taunting school officials, and laughing at her son’s chipped tooth.

It was also infuriating for her to learn that new juvenile justice and police reform laws prevent Graham-Kapowsin’s school resource officer and the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department from questioning the attacker – and prevents her from pressing charges.

The Dori Monson Show was first alerted to this story by one of Landon’s classmates. Angered by the beating, this student whistleblower wrote: “A whole group of students stood in the bathroom, cheering on (name omitted) and recording the whole thing, … (unnamed student) even took a selfie standing above (Landon) throwing up a peace sign. … Why is the school brushing this under the rug and not doing more to help students who may not be as mentally developed? Why isn’t the school watching over students more closely when events like this keep happening? … Shouldn’t every kid who recorded this fight/encouraged it face some sort of consequence?”

This classmate described Landon as “non-verbal or reluctant to speak,” but his mom explained that he is verbal.

“The biggest part of his disability is that he still struggles with communication and social/emotional (responses),” Vance explained. “He is limited in a lot of verbal communication processing.”

After contacting the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office, Dori learned officials there are writing a report that will be forwarded to the county prosecutor, who may choose whether or not to press charges in the case.

Following attempts to reach out to Bethel School District officials about this case, Dori received this written response:

“School administration began investigating this situation Monday morning after a teacher noted that a student in their class needed attention. The Pierce County Sheriff’s Department is involved in the incident investigation. Because the students are minors, there is limited information that we can share, but we want our families and students to know that any incident that threatens students’ health or safety is taken very seriously. If students witness an incident they should immediately report it to a teacher or administrator.”

Meanwhile, school administrators told Vance that Landon’s suspension has been lifted and he may return to school.

But Vance says her son – who she says is friendless at school and wanders the halls listening to music between classes – will remain home “until I deem he is safe, and right now I don’t think he is.”

Listen to Dori’s interview with Graham-Kapowsin mom Nelle Vance:

Listen to the Dori Monson Show weekday afternoons from noon – 3 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.