The principal of WJ Cooper Elementary School in suburban Atlanta is under fire after one of his students reportedly suffered a broken leg while in his care on campus.
The child’s family asserts the administrator was responsible for the injury and believes he should be fired and criminally charged.
Dr. Lisa Hall Shell, who works at the same school as a detention supervisor, believes a crime was committed against her son.
She videotaped her 9-year-old’s account of the altercation shortly after the alleged assault and assessed the administrator used excessive force when trying to discipline her child, Fox 5 reported.
Gwinnett County School District, the Gwinnett County Public School Police, and the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services State Office are now investigating the altercation and will determine if Shell’s claims have merit.
The student reportedly is on the autism spectrum and has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
Based on his clinical diagnosis, he is assigned to an emotional disability class. On the day of the incident, Tuesday, April 11, he got into a fight with another student. As a result of his behavior, he was placed in the school’s behavior recovery room.
According to EducationWorld.com, schools use recovery rooms to help direct disruptive students to “reflect on their mistakes and find ways to improve, without hindering the entire class and frustrating their classroom teachers.”
However, instead of reflection, the interaction between the child and the administrators in the room became chaotic.
At one point, according to the student, Principal Paul Willis and another administrator tried to calm him down but wound up getting physical.
Shell said after the child was injured, administrators reached out to her, stating there was a disciplinary “incident” involving her son and that she needed to take him home. The call did not go into detail regarding what happened.
Before…
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