Local mother speaks out after daughter’s hair allegedly set on fire at Westinghouse Academy

PITTSBURGH — A local mom shared with Channel 11 News that not only was her daughter’s hair set on fire but her scalp was irritated so badly that she had to take her daughter to UPMC Shadyside Hospital, where doctors told her the injuries could have been much worse.

“I just don’t feel like she was safe. I feel like my daughter was in danger,” said mom, LaToya Copeland.

Copeland’s 13-year-old daughter goes to Westinghouse Academy in Homewood.

When her daughter got home on Monday, her clip-in extensions were singed, and her natural hair was burnt off, but the worse part was her daughter’s scalp and skin, which were red and bruised from the irritation.

“She came home smelling like fire, her hair smelled like fire. She had little black burn balls in her hair. I could tell her hair was set on fire and I was scared for her,” Copeland said.

Copeland said a group of students lit her daughter’s hair on fire.

“They were telling me not to be frantic, my daughter’s hair caught on fire, but it didn’t make any contact with her skin,” Copeland explained.

But one of her biggest concerns is that she wasn’t called. At dismissal, she says her daughter was put on a school bus and it wasn’t until her child was almost home that the school finally contacted her to let her know what had taken place.

Another concern was how the lighter got into the building.

“Security school police, and teachers; I feel like they are not doing their jobs. If they were this wouldn’t have happened; this shouldn’t have gone this far,” Copeland said.

Copeland said she wasn’t told if the students responsible were disciplined.

We reached out to the Pittsburgh Public School District, which said once the students are identified, they would be disciplined, but it is not their policy to share another child’s disciplinary action with parents.

Copeland said this school year was already difficult because her daughter saw four classmates shot outside of the school.

Now her daughter won’t be returning.

‘There is no supervision going on, there’s no safety, and it is not a safe school,” Copeland said.

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