Father demands answers after 5-year-old son assaulted by student at elementary school in Bucks County

CROYDON, Pa. - A father in Bucks County turned to social media after his kindergartner was assaulted by another student during school.

Steve Callahan’s TikTok video has been played nearly seven million times and tells the traumatizing experience of his son Grayson, age 5, and the family as they try and get some answers.

The incident occurred at Keystone Elementary on May 16. Callahan’s wife received a phone call from the school around noon saying their son was in an accident and needed to be taken to the hospital by a parent.

Callahan explains in the TikTok video, it would be hours before they received any kind of information about what happened to their son. 

"This was no accident," said Callahan on TikTok. "A teacher’s aide who works with special needs students in the county was not paying attention, and not handling the child she was supposed to and a fourth grade special needs student attacked my son. The special needs student grabbed my son by the back and threw him head first into a table which caused all the damage to the face."

Callahan said his son has a huge gash on his face, missing teeth and bruises all over his face. He said the district has video of the incident and is not sharing it with them.

The Bristol Township School District released the following statement: "The Bristol Township School District has been made aware of a post by a district parent on the social media platform TikTok regarding an incident that took place at Keystone Elementary School on May 16th.  The district has also been contacted by several media organizations regarding this social media post. Please know that specific information cannot be shared because of legal privacy and confidentiality protections provided to all children in our public schools. That being acknowledged, there are details regarding the incident for which the district would like to provide clarification:

On Thursday, May 16, a Keystone Elementary Kindergarten student was injured when he was pushed in the cafeteria by a 4th grade student from a special education program run by the Bucks County Intermediate Unit (BCIU).  

We are apologetic to the student and family, and wish the child a speedy recovery. Our primary concern is the health and safety of all our students, and whenever a student is hurt in school, we are saddened.

The BCIU runs a special education program that utilizes space within Keystone Elementary School. The students serviced by this program are students of the BCIU, not the Bristol Township School District. The staff running the program are employees of the BCIU, not the Bristol Township School District.

Since the incident occurred, the BCIU team has begun an investigation regarding this incident. That investigation is ongoing. The BCIU is cooperating with our school district and remains in regular communication. The Bristol Township School District trusts that the BCIU will share any updates allowable by law after their investigation concludes and put in place measures and processes to ensure that this does not occur again."

Bucks County Intermediate Unit (BCIU) shared the following statement with FOX 29: 

"The Bucks IU is aware of the incident at Keystone Elementary School on May 16, 2024, involving two Bristol Township School District students, one of whom is served by the Bucks IU.  The Bucks IU team has been and remains in contact with both families and the Bristol Township School District administrative staff.  The Bucks IU is conducting an investigation in full cooperation with the school district.  Based on the outcomes of this investigation, the Bucks IU will take appropriate actions specific to the students, team members, and programs involved. In addition to the swift action taken by the Bucks IU team, the Bucks IU remains committed to supporting all involved in this difficult situation.  The health and safety of all students and team members remains a priority.  To protect the privacy and rights of our students and team members, the Bucks IU is unable to provide additional information."

"They’re more concerned about their public image at this point," said Callahan. "If they were going to save a face, they should’ve saved my five-year-old’s face, not worrying about theirs after the fact."

Dave Langsam of Injury Law Partners is now representing the Callahan Family and requested investigative materials from BTSD and Bucks IU.

"When you take your child to a school, and you have an expectation, rightfully so, that he or she is going to come back without being assaulted," said Langsam. "It would be nice to have the video to actually see, physically, what happened to him so that the doctors can plan accordingly."

The family said this is not the fault of the student with special needs or the student's parents, but they do plan on holding the educators involved accountable.

Callahan said his son Grayson will not be going back to Keystone Elementary.