Forney ISD Investigating Claims of Student Taped to Chair

The mother of a 10-year-old elementary school student in Forney is calling for his teacher to be arrested and fired for allegedly taping her son to his chair in class.

The teacher, who has not been charged, is on administrative leave pending the results of an investigation by the Forney ISD Police Department.

“As a parent, you’re supposed to be there to protect your child and the fact that I wasn’t there to protect him, that breaks my heart,” said Charlotte Johnson of Forney.

Her son, Zye, is 10 years old and a fourth grader at Crosby Elementary School.

She says she got a call last Wednesday afternoon that has left her feeling angry and frustrated. She says her son’s class was returning from lunch when his teacher allegedly grabbed his arm in the hallway and led him to his desk.

She says a school official told her surveillance video shows Zye tossing his football in the air and being told to stop, which he did.

“She went to another teacher’s room to get some tape. She came back into the classroom and that’s when she began to tape him,” she said. “I said, 'When she started to tape you, what did you say?' He said, 'I asked her: What did I do? I wasn’t doing anything. I was just walking.' And I said, 'What did she say back?' He said, 'She didn’t say anything she just kept taping.'”

Johnson says she asked what kind of tape was used and was told it was white tape and not duct tape. She says when the teacher left the classroom to return the tape, several students started hitting Zye from behind.

His body, she claims, was bound but his arms were not. She says he held his hands up to his face to protect it from the blows.

The kids were allegedly laughing, while others sat and watched.

Zye told his mom one kid said, “that he was going to slap him as hard as Will Smith slapped Chris Rock.”

Johnson says she has no idea why other students would attack her son, saying she has never received a complaint from the school.

Zye, who suffers from migraines, was able to wiggle himself out of the tape and walked over to a corner used for students in need of a moment to "cool off."

When the teacher returned, he asked to go to the nurse’s office.

“He said before she let him go to the nurse she said: You know I was just playing with you,” said Johnson.

She says she is very upset the school did not immediately call her.

Johnson says the teacher called her twice that day with unrelated questions, including one after the alleged incident, and did not mention what happened.

She says she got a call after school let out, after Zye had talked to a doctor or nurse and police.

Since the alleged incident, Johnson says she has repeatedly asked for school records with information on what happened and a copy of video in the hallway preceding the allegations.

She says she is being instructed to file open records requests, which can take weeks to receive.

In a statement, Forney ISD said, "We are aware of the allegations, and an investigation is underway. There are two sides to every story, and we need to allow time for the investigation process to take place before commenting further."

When asked to clarify what "two sides to every story" meant, a spokeswoman said what they mean is that at this point they don't even know if it happened at all.

"Why is there two sides to every story? The assistant principal and principal both told me that she admitted to doing it," Johnson said. "She told the principal she thought it was a joke. She told my son she was just playing."

As to rumors that Zye has behavioral issues or was hitting his teacher, Johnson says she's never gotten a single call of problems.

"Whoever is out there saying that that's why she did it; you don't do that to a child he's not an animal he's a human being," Johnson said.

She said the Forney ISD Police detective told her they should know by week's end if the teacher or perhaps any of the older students could face charges.