Sacramento Mom Says Elementary School Was Slow To Notify Her Of Child's Broken Leg
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — A student broke her leg in the Ethel Baker Elementary School in Sacramento, and her mother says the school was slow to contact both her and emergency responders.
"It was stinging and burning at the same time," says Maria Gutierrez, sixth-grader at Ethel Baker Elementary.
On Tuesday, Maria fell in her schoolyard breaking her fibula, tibia and ankle.
"When I fell, I heard a crack," she said.
Maria and her mother say staff was slow to respond as she was lying in the garden.
"The staff members kept repeating it wasn't that serious, that she's going to get up," said mom Genevieve Valdez. "And after 20 minutes, they decided it was serious."
Valdez says staff was hesitant to call her or an ambulance.
"I got a call at 10:08 and 9-1-1 got a call at 10:08," she said.
Valdez claims more than 20 minutes went by from the time the school's principal says her daughter fell.
"Why would you sit there and watch it?" Valdez said. "I personally could not watch a child go through pain for one minute."
Valdez says a schoolyard employee took matters into her own hands.
"She believed my daughter was on the floor for way too long," she said. "Yes, she stepped out and even though she knew she'd get in trouble, she said 'Yes, I have to stand up for her.' "
Valdez lives just across the street from Ethel Baker Elementary and ran over and rushed her child to UC Davis Medical Center.
"Accidents happen. No one is to blame, but why did they sit there?" she questioned.
We reach out to the Sacramento City Unified School District to ask about emergency medical protocols. A spokesperson for the district wrote, in part:
"Based on interviews of student witnesses and adults who responded to help the student, and review of video footage of the event, it appears that the school took appropriate and timely action."
But Mom says she asked to see the surveillance video and was only shown a portion of it.
"I want the video so she can play it out 20 minutes of her screaming. I love this school, I just wish I could trust the people in it," Valdez said.
The school district says the fire department and paramedics did eventually arrive on the scene and helped place Maria in her mom's car.
Maria will likely be back up and walking in about six weeks. In the meantime, her mom is considering pulling her out of school permanently.
