School bus fight between first-graders leaves 1 with brain injury in New Mexico

NM boy hospitalized after fight on school bus

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A first-grader underwent brain surgery after an apparent fight with another first-grader on a school bus in the southern New Mexico city of Las Cruces, a district official said Wednesday.

The elementary school boys were riding home April 14 when there was an apparent shoving match and one boy hit his head, said Las Cruces Public Schools spokeswoman Jo Galvan.

“We do not know how he ended up falling yet. … We just know he was crying when he got off the bus. The driver asked him what happened, and the kid said the other kid pushed him,” she said.

The bus driver, following district policy, contacted school officials about a possible injury.

The child was taken to an El Paso, Texas, hospital, where he is recovering, Galvan said. She did not know whether he was taken to the hospital from the bus or from home.

“We’re still not sure who instigated what, or whether it started at school or just on the bus,” Galvan said.

The bus was not equipped with a video camera, she said.

District officials want to see whether any bullying was involved, but neither boy will be interviewed until the injured child is out of the hospital, she said.

“Even though it’s only first grade, it’s taken seriously,” she said. “Accidents do happen, whether they’re meant to or not, with little children. But they have to understand the consequences and the long-term effects bullying can have.”

Only the two boys were involved in the fight, Galvan said. Their names were not released because of their age.

Galvan said she could not give further details because of the possibility of litigation. An attorney for the injured boy’s family has contacted district officials, she said.

The attorney did not return a call Wednesday from The Associated Press.

The New Mexico Public Schools Insurance Authority, which insures the district, has taken over the investigation, Galvan said.

The Las Cruces district instituted an anti-bullying curriculum two years ago. The policy includes name-calling, pushing and similar behavior as bullying and details possible punishment, ranging from a one-day in-school suspension to a year’s suspension from class.