She could have gone to her parents, a counselor or a trusted adult to help her manage her emotions over the situation until a better resolution could be reached.

She did. She fucking did all the things that you say she should have done. She availed herself of all the support structures you say she should have utilized, and they all failed her.

Those parents, counselors, and trusted adults could have helped her “manage her emotions” by separating her from the harasser. Instead, they put the two of them together on a bus, effectively unsupervised. She did everything right. All of the social structures that should have supported her failed, and now you’re all <pikachu face> that the most reasonable course of action she had was direct violence.

The school’s actions were foolish, lazy, unhelpful, and unacceptable. In the specific circumstances she faced, her actions were perfectly reasonable.