District officials say the January attack remains under investigation.
CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — A mother pressed Clayton County school leaders Monday night for details and accountability after her 15-year-old autistic son was stabbed at Forest Park Middle School in January, saying she was not contacted by the school and learned about the attack from her younger child who witnessed it.
The case has drawn attention because it involves a student with disabilities and allegations of bullying, and because key questions remain unanswered weeks after the stabbing. School district leaders said the incident is still being investigated, while board members signaled they want to reexamine safety policies after the mother described a response she said left her family feeling alone and unheard.
According to Clayton County school police, the stabbing happened in and near a hallway at Forest Park Middle School, with part of the incident occurring outside the building. The student, Isias Rodriguez Gallaga, was attacked by another juvenile and suffered stab wounds to his shoulder and cheek, police said. His mother, Andriana Gallaga, told the school board that her son had been bullied before the stabbing and that the violence changed daily life for her family in a matter of minutes.
Gallaga told board members she did not get a phone call from school administrators or district officials after the attack. She said she found out from her younger son, who saw the stabbing and came to her with the news. “It is truly sad I have to go through this,” Gallaga said during public comment. She added that her son is autistic and has epilepsy, and she described the emotional strain on both children after the incident. She said she pulled both children out of the building in the aftermath because she no longer felt the campus was a safe place for them.
After removing them from the school, Gallaga said the family shifted to virtual learning at home. She told the board that the younger child who witnessed the stabbing is traumatized, and that the child who was stabbed is recovering while also living with fear of returning. Gallaga asked what support the district provides to families and students who are attacked or who witness violence at school. Her comments were delivered in a packed meeting setting where speakers rotated through a public microphone, and her voice grew sharper as she described what she said was a lack of outreach from the system tasked with protecting her children.
District officials said the case remains active, but they did not provide details about the suspected attacker or whether charges will be filed. Authorities have not identified the juvenile accused of the stabbing, and officials have not said what led up to the confrontation or what security measures were in place in the area where it happened. The lack of public detail has frustrated the family, which says it has struggled to get clear answers about basic facts, such as what steps were taken immediately after the stabbing and how the school handled the scene while students were still in the building.
Interim Superintendent Dr. Douglas Hendrix Sr. responded during the meeting and told Gallaga the district would continue looking into the matter. “We will continue to look into this matter,” Hendrix said, adding that he wanted her to know her child and her family matter. The remarks came as board members listened without extended debate during the public comment period, a structured part of meetings that allows residents to address leaders but does not typically include back-and-forth questioning.
The board chair, responding to the account described at the microphone, called for a formal review of district safety standards. The chair said it is the board’s job to review policy and asked members to pull up the relevant safety policy so the board could discuss it. The moment signaled that, beyond the investigation itself, district leaders may face broader questions about supervision in hallways, response procedures, and how schools communicate with families when violence occurs, especially when students have disabilities or medical conditions that may heighten vulnerability.
Gallaga’s account centered on the minutes and hours after the stabbing, when she said she received no official call and had to seek out information on her own. She described having to request a meeting rather than being offered one, and she said that left her feeling as if her family’s crisis was treated like an administrative afterthought. She also questioned whether her children’s needs were being taken seriously, given that one child witnessed the stabbing and the other was physically injured, and both were suddenly expected to continue school as if nothing had happened.
School violence, even when it involves only a small number of students, can ripple across a campus, affecting witnesses and classmates who hear about an attack secondhand. Families often judge a district not only by whether an offender is identified, but also by how quickly officials communicate, what mental health supports are offered, and whether parents believe supervision and security are improving. In this case, the mother’s concerns were amplified by her son’s autism and epilepsy, conditions she said should have made school leaders more attentive to his safety and recovery needs.
For now, the district says the investigation is ongoing. Authorities have not announced a timeline for findings or disciplinary action, and no public court dates or hearings have been disclosed. The next milestone is likely to come either through an investigative update from school police or through future board discussions about safety policy, which members indicated they want to revisit after hearing Gallaga’s testimony.
Author note: Last updated March 3, 2026.