Dayton Public Schools has released a statement blasting a former employee who viciously assaulted a 3-year-old nonverbal child on campus during a school day at the Ohio facility.
The interim superintendent of Dayton Public Schools, Dr. David Lawrence, said as soon as the Department of Human Resources and Department of Safety & Security saw the video, they also opened a probe into the circumstances surrounding the Aug. 21 incident at the Rosa Parks Early Learning Center.
“On the day of the incident, the parents of the student involved were told about the incident in person,” the statement released on the DPS Facebook reads. “The employee involved in the incident was placed on administrative leave that day. He ultimately resigned in lieu of termination. The District has reported this incident to the Ohio Department of Education.”
The autistic child, Braylen Tootle, is seen on a surveillance camera being knocked onto the floor and then carried upside down by the now-former school worker.
After obtaining the footage, the boy’s parents made it public on Sept. 11, demanding DPS take swift action.
According to the parents, when the child was picked up from school on the day of the incident, the school failed to provide them with a comprehensive explanation of what happened.
Robert Tootle, the child’s father, said he was only told that his son bumped his head and that it was Child Protective Services that gave him the video and shared the details of the incident.
“It just made me mad,” the dad said.
The mother, Taneshia Lindsay, says the paraprofessional should have been arrested after officials found out about what he did to her child.
“They shouldn’t have sent him home pending investigation. He should have left that school in handcuffs,” Lindsay said.
According to a statement, DPS reached out to the families within the school system and scheduled a meeting to discuss what happened.
“Again, the actions demonstrated in the video are contrary to all employee training, do not promote a culture conducive to learning, and are not tolerated in Dayton Public Schools.”
The district ended the statement by saying that “the safety of all students” is its priority.
