KATY, Texas – The Texas Education Agency is investigating a Katy Independent School District educator for possible assault against a child with autism.
The agency wouldn’t go into detail because its investigation is ongoing. However, the child’s parent at the center of the investigation shared the district police’s incident report with KPRC 2’s Rilwan Balogun.
In the report, Katy ISD police state that they received an anonymous tip about a student “being physically and mentally abused” by staff at Woodcreek Elementary School. Police then received a video allegedly showing the teacher “attempting to hit the student in the face and then proceeding to grab [him] by the collar of his shirt and pull him across the table.”
The video was apparently taken during the 2023-2024 academic year.
“The safety and security of students, faculty, and staff is paramount at Katy ISD,” said a district statement to KPRC 2. “The individual is no longer an employee of Katy ISD. An investigation was launched as school officials became aware. Once additional evidence was made available at a later date, the individual resigned amid the investigation.”
It appears during the summer of 2024, after the end of the school year, the child’s parent became aware of the apparent assault. Officers interviewed the child’s parent, who said that in January 2024, she noticed bruising on her son’s body.
The parent told authorities that after noticing the bruises, she informed the teacher, who assured her he would move her son, who has autism, closer to the front of the class. The parent “advised that, due to [her son] no longer coming home with bruises, she did not escalate the matter to report the bruising to the administration at Woodcreek Elementary.”
After the interview, the parent asked to press charges.
Officers met with the teacher and showed him the video. The report said that officers told him that grabbing the child by the shirt, as shown in the video, is a Class C misdemeanor and that he would receive a citation.
The report says the teacher texted the child’s parent, asking her to “not ruin his career.”
