The parent of a Sequoia Pathway Academy student is pressing charges against a football coach she says physically assaulted her 13-year-old son yesterday.  

Santa Rosa Springs resident Germanni Hernandez said athletic director and head football coach Brandon Payne screamed at and pushed her son, a seventh-grade student, following a basketball game with other students, she told InMaricopa today.  

Hernandez said the altercation happened in the lunchroom during her son’s fourth period physical education class. Payne joined a group of students playing basketball and allegedly got too rough, leading to her son getting hurt.  

As he attempted to leave, Payne continued to try to interact with her son, who told him to stop.  

Payne supposedly screamed at the student and pushed him into the bleachers to force him to sit down, Hernandez said. When her son refused, Payne brought him to the front office where he spoke with the registrar before he was sent back to class.  

Hernandez said she didn’t hear from the school about the incident until she pressed them about it today. 

“Nobody from the school contacted me yesterday, so I didn’t find out about it until last night … and then I notified the school today,” Hernandez told InMaricopa. “I spoke to the vice principal, and she had no clue what was going on. So today is when they learned of it as well.”  

When asked by school officials and the school resource officer if she wanted to press charges, she said yes.  

Maricopa Police Department spokesperson Monica Williams confirmed a report was filed today that “is currently being investigated.”  

Hernandez said she was told the police report would be available next week since police had to speak with parents “before they can proceed with interviewing [students who witnessed the incident] formally.” 

She added that school administrators, including Principal Julianne Toepfer and Vice Principal Sheri Forester, apologized for not informing her of the incident sooner.  

“The principal told me that she had spoken to the superintendent and that they were following the procedures and policies that are detailed in their handbook as far as disciplinary action goes,” Hernandez said. 

However, Toepfer allegedly told Hernandez that due her plan to press charges, the school’s investigation and disciplinary actions may halt until after MPD completed its investigation. 

Payne and Sequoia Pathway executives could not be reached for comment Friday.