INDIANAPOLIS — A tort claim filed last month alleges an Indianapolis special education teacher assaulted a nonverbal and autistic student. The tort also indicates that the same teacher trapped the student in a closet on multiple occasions.
The school at the center of the claim is Urban Act Academy School 14, which is located at 1250 E. Market St. Per the tort, the student who was allegedly harmed is in kindergarten.
The tort, which was filed by Connell Michael LLP, reports that the student’s parent first started noticing changes in his behavior in August. At that time, the parent observed her child exhibiting “escalating distress” on his way to school and “increasing reluctance and fear” when attending the teacher in question’s class.
The tort Connell Michael provided FOX59/CBS4 redacted the name of the teacher implicated in the court filings.
The claim also indicates the student’s parent asked school officials about her child’s behavioral changes. Per the tort, the parent did not receive an adequate explanation of her child’s behavioral changes during that meeting.
The parent’s concerns escalated in October, when the Indiana Department of Child Services contacted her about an open assault case involving her son. The claim alleges that the parent was not notified of the case by the school before she heard from DCS personnel.
After she was contacted by DCS, the parent reached out to the Indianapolis Public Schools Police Department to file a report. During her conversation with an IPSPD officer, the parent was told the incident DCS called her about was captured on camera.
According to the tort, the incident in question involved the special education teacher pushing the parent’s child to the ground. The boy hit his head on the ground after he was pushed.
The tort also mentions two other incidents in which the student and teacher were involved. During one of the alleged incidents, the teacher intentionally stretched his leg in front of the student’s walking path. The teacher’s action caused the student to trip and fall onto the floor.
After the student hit the ground, the teacher allegedly grabbed him by the ankle and dragged him down the hallway toward the school cafeteria.
Connell Michael’s tort called the incident “physically dangerous, demeaning, and wholly inconsistent with any accepted standard of care for school personnel interacting with students.”
Another incident mentioned in the tort involved the teacher repeatedly snapping a hair tie against the student’s head. When a Registered Behavior Technician (RBT) observed the teacher hitting the student with the hair tie, the RBT placed her hand over the boy’s head and told the teacher, “Don’t do that to him.”
The tort indicates that the teacher’s response to the RBT’s action was “then I will do it to you, you f****** loser.” The RBT reported that, after the teacher uttered that statement, he began snapping the hair tie onto her hand instead of the student’s head.
The claim also outlines repeat incidents in which the teacher picked up and dropped the child on the floor. The student and parents’ attorneys allege the teacher in question repeatedly confined the student to a closet or other enclosed spaces as a disciplinary measure.
The tort claims IPS is negligent for the harm the student suffered. The student and parent’s attorneys believe IPS is negligent because it is responsible for the well-being of nonverbal students who can’t advocate for themselves.
“Because he cannot reliably verbalize what has happened to him, advocate for himself, or seek help in the moment, (the student) is significantly more vulnerable to harm, dependent on adult supervision, and uniquely reliant on the School to protect him and to notify his parents when harm occurs,” attorneys wrote in the tort.
The tort was closed out by a request for damages. The student and parent’s attorneys are seeking $700,000 in damages per reported incident.
The tort also indicates that the extent of the harm the child suffered may currently be unknown, as he can’t verbalize the school staff’s improper conduct.
“While (the student’s) full damages are unknown at this time, the amount sought for our minor client’s state law claims is more than $700,000 per occurrence.
FOX59/CBS4 has reached out to IPS for a statement on the tort. The school district has indicated that it is processing FOX59/CBS4’s request.