In the video the student gestures at Vollhardt and appears to point the finger at him twice before the former principal shoves the student. It is unclear what led to the incident. “Instead of de-escalating the situation, which is what we expect from an educator in our system, the former principal chose to aggressively push the student,” Superintendent Bob Nelson said during a news conference Wednesday. The child’s guardian, Anne Frank, told CNN’s KFSN that the case remained at police headquarters until she protested the lack of charges two weeks ago. It took the school district three months to show her the video, she added. According to an arrest warrant affidavit obtained by KFSN, Vollhardt said the student was “yelling and getting in the face of the principal/suspect” while making threats. Citing the ongoing investigation, police and the school district declined to comment on Vollhardt’s comments in the affidavit. “You can’t power these kids like that,” Frank said in an interview with KFSN. “My son is autistic. Any parents who see this video know how I feel right now. My son was pushed hard by this principal who was supposed to protect him.” Fresno Police Chief Paco Balderrama acknowledged during the news conference that the system failed to act quickly in this case. “I found out about the incident two days ago. Around 3pm on Tuesday.” Balderrama said Thursday. “We’ve since gone back and looked at our process on how to handle these types of cases. I as the police chief want to be alerted any time an attack this serious happens in any of our schools. That didn’t happen in this case. “ Both Nelson and Balderrama said the principal’s actions were inexcusable, with Nelson adding that what the video shows is “disgusting.” Vollhardt was placed on administrative leave June 8 after the district was notified of the incident, Nelson said. The district also notified Fresno police and Child Protective Services, she added. Vollhardt resigned before the district completed its investigation, Nelson said. Vollhardt was later hired as an assistant principal in the Golden Plains Unified School District. Martin Marcias, the school district’s superintendent, told CNN they were made aware of the June 7 incident Wednesday and have since placed Vollhardt on administrative leave. Roger Wilson, Vollhardt’s attorney, said he has asked the district attorney’s office for more information and cannot make a factual statement about the incident until he receives discovery from the district attorney’s office. In the meantime, he says he has a court date scheduled for Vollhardt, Wilson said. According to Nelson, the student is physically fine and has been given emotional support.
