What to Know
- Note sent home from teacher explained that the student ran away from the teacher.
- Surveillance video from the playground later showed the teacher dragging the student across the ground.
- The teacher is no longer working in Wylie ISD.
A Collin County mother is outraged over video showing a teacher dragging her 4-year-old son across a school playground.
The teacher has resigned but the child's family still has questions they want answered.
Lanetta Moore says parenting a child with special needs takes patience.
Her son, 4-year-old Jonathan, has autism and struggles communicating.
She says she learned what happened at Jonathan’s school last Thursday through a note sent home from his teacher.
“The day of the incident the teacher had sent me a note home. The note had basically said that Jonathan had ran away from her on the playground. That was it,” Moore explained.
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Surveillance video at Hartman Elementary tells a different story.
You can see his teacher kneel down by the playset, trying to get Jonathan to come out.
“I guess she wasn't successful. Then you see her drag him,” Moore said, holding back tears.
Jonathan is dragged by his feet across the ground.
Moore showed us photos of scratches on his side.
The worst part, she says, is what happened next on the video.
“You see him drop the ground and he doesn't move. Then you see a bunch of teachers crowd around him and you don't know what’s happening. All you see is him just lying there,” Moore said, crying.
Two minutes go by. Then you see Jonathan being pulled off the playground, all while other staff was there.
“I think that's the biggest setback to me as a parent. You see this happen as an adult, no body stepped in to say ‘Hey don't do this. You're hurting him’,” Moore said.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Wylie ISD said:
“The district does not condone discipline or physical contact that may result in injury to a child. Wylie ISD took immediate action as soon as we were made aware of the incident. We notified the proper authorities and conducted our own investigation. The teacher is no longer working in Wylie ISD.”
Moore says she took Jonathan out of school after seeing the video which she feels raises more questions than it answers.
“I don't want this to happen to someone else’s child. That's a big thing and my huge question is did it happen before?” Moore asked.
The principal of Hartman Elementary sent an email to parents Thursday afternoon letting them know the teacher no longer works at the school.
The District has been in contact with the family and says it notified Wylie police, CPS, the TEA and conducted its own investigation.
As for the other staff in the video, the district says all teachers who work with children with disabilities undergo annual crisis prevention intervention.
The spokesperson points out it was a teacher who notified them about what happened.
