Toledo, Ohio is where The Horn News’ weekly “Friday Fail!” heads this week.
After a group of five-year-olds got dressed in their caps and gowns Wednesday night for their Kindergarten graduation, it was their parents that stole the spotlight… in the worst imaginable way.
A graduation ceremony at Queens of the Apostles Catholic School in Toledo was cancelled after a brawl erupted before the ceremony over seating arrangements. By the time it was over, one woman was in the hospital, one woman was in handcuffs facing felony assault charges, and a whole class of children had their evening ruined.
Classy.
Craig Mays, a father at the school told 13 Action News that another family had started rearranging chairs and carving out extra space for themselves, blocking the sightlines of families already seated.
“There was another family who started to grab their own chairs and kind of like make their own space and make their own seating,” Mays, himself a Kindergarten teacher, said. “My kid’s mom — they were right in front of her and she couldn’t see.”
Mays said he tried to let it go. A woman behind him, identified by police as Jessica Anderson, would not.
“The girl behind me she’s just talking just cussing, talking crazy. Calling us weird and saying we need to mind our business,” Mays said.
What happened next was swift and vicious, Mays said.
“Her whole family in the first two rows stood up — five guys, five girls — they just all stand up as I’m arguing with Jessica. I literally don’t remember anything. I just know I was sucker punched,” Mays said. “Once I was taken to the ground, it was probably four or five other guys on top of me — trampling me, punching me. They kicked me in the head.”
While Mays was on the ground, Anderson grabbed the mother of his child by the hair and slammed her head against a chair. Other women, one wearing pink pajamas and slipped, joined in her attack.
“She grabbed my kid’s mom by her hair, pulled her away from me, stop punching her face, then maybe five or six other girls just came and trampled her and was just stomping her, kicking her in the face,” Mays said.
Anderson was charged with felony assault. One victim was transported to the hospital.
“Being at another school’s kindergarten graduation, I know how hard those kids work. I know how hard those teachers work — for us just to ruin it and be selfish like that,” Mays said. “It breaks my heart. I couldn’t watch my daughter graduate today.”
Queens of the Apostles School has not announced a rescheduled date for the ceremony.
Take a look at this epic Friday Fail… and stay classy, Toledo!
Brawl at a kindergarten graduation ceremony in Toledo.
Question: Where do students learn to be violent with others?
Answer 👇 pic.twitter.com/ifCRFSPCUo
— Fixing Education (@FixingEducation) May 22, 2026