HOUSTON – A September incident caught on video that is now coming to light at Houston ISD's Jefferson Davis High School, gave several parents pause Friday after watching the short clip.
"What if that happened to my child when the teacher wasn't looking?" asked Elva Reyes, a parent.
The video shows two students exchanging words and then one of them delivering a powerful slap to the other.
A teacher is steps away from both students, but he does not appear to intervene until after the physical altercation.
"Oh!" one parent said, upon seeing the video for the first time.
The parent who provided the clip to KPRC said he did so because he was worried school violence was a problem at Jefferson Davis High School, and that administrators were not ineffective at dealing with such issues.
But neither anecdotal evidence from students polled by Channel 2, nor fight data collected by the Texas Education Agency seemed to support the notion that fighting is a big problem at the HISD school just north of downtown Houston.
During the 2013-2014 school year, Jefferson Davis High School logged only 16 fights with the state, far under the most troubled schools which topped 150 fights during the same time period.
HISD provided a statement regarding the incident:
"Two Davis High School students were involved last September in a brief altercation that stemmed from a verbal confrontation. The matter was handled administratively and the students involved were disciplined per the HISD Student Code of Conduct. We do not tolerate fighting of any kind. The safety of our students and staff is always our top priority."