BRAZORIA COUNTY, Texas — A Brazoria County mother is demanding justice after shocking surveillance video from her 5-year-old son’s elementary school shows a teacher forcefully slamming him to the ground, allegedly fracturing his ankle.

A second surveillance video shows another teacher kicking the boy’s injured ankle after the incident, to allegedly try to get him to walk.

Both teachers have since been fired, according to Columbia-Brazoria ISD. But the child’s mother says that is not enough.

Surveillance video from Oct. 30 shows a teacher slamming the boy to the ground inside Wild Peach Elementary School. The child’s mother, Guadalupe Rodriguez, said her son has autism and is nonverbal.

“This is trauma that my son and I will carry forever,” Rodriguez said, adding that seeing the video of her son getting hurt was extremely painful to see. “I dropped to my knees and cried, because I didn’t expect to see that. I wasn’t expecting to see my son be treated in such a manner.”

Rodriguez said her son came home limping that day.

“I immediately knew something was wrong. I took him to the urgent care, and sure enough, he had a fracture and a sprained ankle,” she said.

The next day, Rodriguez went to Wild Peach Elementary demanding answers and asked the principal to open an investigation. That is when she saw the video, and she requested to see more.

Footage from less than an hour before the incident shows the same teacher dropping her son. Another video afterward shows a different teacher kicking the boy’s injured ankle while appearing to try to get him to walk.

“My son was showing signs of distress, and not one teacher stopped to assess my son. Nobody cared,” Rodriguez said.

Columbia-Brazoria ISD confirmed to KHOU 11 that both teachers involved were fired.

“Part of me is relieved, but I’m not satisfied with the way they’re handling this at all. Neither of them are behind bars. They’re still walking free,” Rodriguez said.

A letter from the Wild Peach Elementary principal states that Columbia-Brazoria ISD notified the Texas Education Agency about the incident and that the district’s police department reported it to the Brazoria County District Attorney’s Office.

Rodriguez said her son has not returned to Wild Peach Elementary since getting injured on Oct. 30. As for what is next, she said he is exploring her legal options.

KHOU 11 will continue to stay on top of this story to see if any criminal charges are filed against the two teachers involved.

The full letter from the elementary school principal reads:

Dear Wild Peach Elementary Families,

Now that the parents of the student have met with administration, I am writing to inform you that a campus investigation involving a student injury at Wild Peach Elementary is still in progress. At current, the investigation has determined two educational support staff members acted inappropriately by not following the provided training and guidance. Additionally –

• Two staff members have been removed from the campus and employment with CBISD
• CBISD has reported the incident to the Texas Education Agency as required
• CBISD has reported the incident to Family Protected Services as required
• CBISD Police has reported the incident to Brazoria County District Attorney’s Office
• All WPE campus employees will receive additional training
• CBISD will place additional staff support on the WPE campus

The safety and well-being of our students are of the utmost importance. This behavior is unacceptable and does not reflect the standards, expectations, or values of Wild Peach Elementary and Columbia-Brazoria ISD.

If you have any concerns or you have questions you would like to discuss, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me directly at 979-799-1750 or anne.cohea@cbisd.com. Thank you for your continued partnership as we work together to ensure Wild Peach Elementary remains a safe place for students to learn and grow.

Sincerely,

Anne M Cohea Principal