The mother of a 6-year-old boy alleged to have suffered physical abuse in a classroom at North Elementary School last November is suing.
Named in the lawsuit brought Monday by Teresa Strader in Monongalia County Circuit Court are Mon’s Board of Education, plus Diana Ellis and Chrissy Areford – the teacher and aide said to have been overly aggressive in their discipling of the child, after he had become unruly this past Nov. 16.
The boy, not named in the complaint, had been diagnosed three years ago with Autism Spectrum Disorder, with accompanying Language Impairment, the complaint reads.
Four other students identified as having special needs were also housed in Classroom No. 139 at the school on Chestnut Ridge Road.
Ellis, a certified teacher – though not in autism or special education – had a been a substitute for the district, which terminated her contract after she was viewed on security video reacting to the behavior, along with Areford.
Last week, she posted bond in Magistrate Court on two felony counts of battery and assault of a disabled child. Ellis reports again June 7 for a preliminary hearing on the charges.
Areford, who is yet to be charged, was suspended along Ellis and another aide, and has since opted to sit out the remainder of the school year after completing additional training, Schools Superintendent Eddie Campbell Jr. said.
Campbell didn’t elaborate on her job status Monday, only saying she “was no longer at North, and wouldn’t be.”
That day in the classroom
The following information is from the lawsuit.
As viewed on the video by district officials and Morgantown Police Detective R. Stallings, the boy appeared to be playing with a cardboard box. Areford, as seen on the video, pointed at him and said, “You piece of sh**, why won’t you [unintelligible]?”
Seconds later on the video, the boy engaged two other students – appearing to place his hands around the neck of one.
After that, according to what was witnessed on video and noted in the complaint, Areford was said to have grabbed both of the boy’s arms, and “forcefully threw him” into a so-designated time out area, which had been blocked from the camera’s view by the placement of furniture.
While the student continued to cry and wail in his struggles and protests, Ellis produced what was viewed on video as “a thick, black belt,” which was then handed to Destiny Powers, another aide present, who was witnessed using it to restrain the boy’s arms to his side.
Other times, the struggle could only be heard, and not viewed – as portions of it occurred in the time-out area, out of view of the camera.
“That’s going to happen to you if you don’t keep your hands to yourself, Mister,” Ellis was reported as saying.
At one point on the video she then asked, “Do you want me to stop stepping on your foot? Stop kicking at me. You understand? Are you going to stop kicking me?”
Then, “What did I tell ya?” followed by, “Don’t kick me or I will step right back on your foot again.”
The “distinct sound of a slap,” is also heard on the video footage, as the suit notes, along with two other “loud, crashing” noises.
Ellis, the complaint notes, further retrieved a blanket, covering the boy, whose muffled cries can be heard on the footage.
“Stop it and I’ll take the blanket off,” the teacher could also be heard saying.
The teacher, as noted on the complaint, taunted the boy’s cries on two occasions, as she told him to calm down.
“Why are you so bad?” she asked, using his name. “Why are you so bad?”
What followed
No specific monetary damage is currently listed in the suit, Strader’s attorney Jared Moore said.
Strader though, is demanding a jury trial, he said.
The case, as previously reported, is one of three clouding the school – otherwise considered exemplary – on charges of failing to report the instances in a timely and proper manner.
“In the video footage, he can be heard crying, screaming and insistently begging for the abuse to stop,” Moore said, of the events that day.
“Individuals who abuse special-needs children,” the attorney continued, ”particularly those entrusted to care for them, must be required to answer for their actions.”
Seen – and not
Superintendent Campbell declined comment on the pending legal action Monday afternoon, saying he had yet to see the suit.
What should have been seen in Room 139 on Nov. 16, he said, was a 100%, unencumbered view of the surroundings via security video – as per state code.
File cabinets and other furnishings, as said, strategically blocked off the view of the classroom area set aside for disciplinary cool-downs.
“That became pretty obvious to us as we were watching the video,” he said.
“That’s how the teacher had set it up. We immediately sent a crew over to rearrange the room.”
TWEET@DominionPostWV
