Father: DeKalb Schools slow to act after son’s assault by instructor

A parent said a JROTC instructor at Lakeside High School admitted to putting his hands around a student’s neck.

A parent said a JROTC instructor at Lakeside High School admitted to putting his hands around a student’s neck.

A Lakeside High School parent says he is furious that the DeKalb County School District has not acted after allegations that a JROTC instructor choked his son during an out-of-state field trip.

William Bedor said the instructor has not missed a day of school because of the investigation, and is still allowed to interact with his teen.

School district officials said the instructor has not been removed from the classroom, but that an investigation will be “wrapped up soon.” Typically, an adult is removed from the classroom pending the outcome of an investigation.

The student, a minor, is not being named because he is possibly the victim of a crime. The instructor is not being named because he has not been charged with a crime.

Bedor said the incident occurred during a field trip for the Lakeside High JROTC in Charleston, S.C., on Oct. 28. The instructor told Bedor in a phone call the next day that he had grabbed the student by the throat while defending himself.

Bedor said he has received nothing from the school district, other than a school district employee urging him not to discuss the matter with anyone else. He’s concerned by what he calls the district’s lack of transparency in the process, including the fact that he wasn’t immediately made aware of the investigation by authorities.

“What gives any adult to right to grab a minor by the throat,” he said, “and then act like it never happened?”

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