WINFIELD - Two mothers told Putnam County school board members Monday that Hurricane High administrators have not consistently enforced the state's Safe Schools Act, which prohibits threats, fighting and other violent behavior.

"What is your definition of 'zero tolerance'?" parent Karen Rich asked school board members.

Last Friday, Rich said, a girl beat up her freshman daughter in the hallway before school started. The perpetrator allegedly shoved Rich's daughter's head into a window and the wall.

Superintendent Chuck Hatfield said he and others would investigate the parents' concerns. Hatfield, however, said he doesn't think Hurricane High has more violence than other schools.

Rich said her daughter repeatedly had asked school administrators for help from a group she called a "posse." The day before the alleged assault, a school counselor reportedly spoke with the accused assailant about not carrying out her threats.

"She beat my daughter viciously," Rich said. "I want accountability for the people who failed to protect my daughter."

The girl also allegedly has assaulted two other students, Rich told the board.

School board President Debbie Phillips told the parents the board takes their concerns "very seriously" and invited them to meet privately with administrators.

WINFIELD - Two mothers told Putnam County school board members Monday that Hurricane High administrators have not consistently enforced the state's Safe Schools Act, which prohibits threats, fighting and other violent behavior.

"What is your definition of 'zero tolerance'?" parent Karen Rich asked school board members.

Last Friday, Rich said, a girl beat up her freshman daughter in the hallway before school started. The perpetrator allegedly shoved Rich's daughter's head into a window and the wall.

Superintendent Chuck Hatfield said he and others would investigate the parents' concerns. Hatfield, however, said he doesn't think Hurricane High has more violence than other schools.

Rich said her daughter repeatedly had asked school administrators for help from a group she called a "posse." The day before the alleged assault, a school counselor reportedly spoke with the accused assailant about not carrying out her threats.

"She beat my daughter viciously," Rich said. "I want accountability for the people who failed to protect my daughter."

The girl also allegedly has assaulted two other students, Rich told the board.

School board President Debbie Phillips told the parents the board takes their concerns "very seriously" and invited them to meet privately with administrators.

Judy Balog said her Hurricane High daughter has been harassed all school year.

"So far, that administration has not protected my daughter," Balog said. "If our kids can't be safe at school, where can they be safe?"

Balog's daughter was "next on the list" to be beat up, Balog said. The teens have threatened to slit her daughter's throat, and to film themselves beating her up and then put the video on YouTube, she said.

They also have picked on her daughter for being Baptist, she said. When they threw a pop bottle at her, they said, "We don't need your religion in our school," Balog said.

"This isn't a hair-pulling, scratch-your-face fight," she said. "If it was, I wouldn't be here."

In an unrelated incident Monday, school board members met in a closed session and voted to expel two Hurricane High students for violating the Safe Schools Act.

In April, they also expelled two other Hurricane High students for the same reason. Officials will not provide details of the situations, citing student confidentiality.

To contact staff writer Alison Knezevich, use e-mail or call 348-1240.