A family reportedly sued a school in Indiana over a teacher’s alleged “fight club-style” discipline of their 7-year-old son from Aug. 2023 to Nov. 2023.
The parents of the child, who reportedly has special needs, allege that a teacher at Indianapolis Public Schools, encouraged other students to physically abuse their son in class for months, Fox 59 reported Wednesday, citing a civil lawsuit filed in Marion Superior Court.
NEW: IMPD opens an investigation after our report on a 7-year-old special-needs child beaten in school. DCS found by a preponderance of the evidence the student told the truth. Did IPS Police not investigate? We are asking.https://t.co/YzZiU895ZN
— Angela Ganote (@angelaganote) April 18, 2024
The 7-year-old boy notified his parents that he was afraid to attend class at George Washington Carver Montessori School for months before they sued Indianapolis Public Schools, the parents told the outlet. The child said he was “attacked, bullied, threatened and injured in the classroom.” School administrators allegedly denied the allegations when first confronted.
The victim’s family reportedly filed the lawsuit after video emerged of the teacher’s “reprehensible fight club type of discipline within his classroom over a span of three months.”
The teacher allegedly played a video of himself encouraging students to attack the victim by accident during a parent-teacher conference with the victim’s parents Nov. 1, 2023.
“You guys done?” the teacher was allegedly heard asking students attacking the victim in the video. “That’s right. You get him.”
The educator allegedly “encouraged” and “instigated” other students to punch and beat the victim to the floor with his approval, Fox 59 reported. The 7-year-old student was allegedly beaten in multiple incidents, including two times when the teacher allegedly held the child down himself.
The victim has disabilities that require he receive a “higher level of supervision and safety,” the lawsuit states. His disabilities include “sensory sensitivities, an executive function disorder, and probable learning disabilities,” Fox 59 reported. (RELATED: Ivy League President Appears To Mock Ultra Liberal Student After Republican Asks Her Question During Hearing)
The teacher was not the only official named in the lawsuit, according to Fox 59. A substitute teacher, multiple administrators and the school district were also sued.
Indianapolis Public Schools has since released two statements regarding the allegations, Fox 59 reported. The first statement made clear that the district “does not tolerate” the teacher’s alleged behavior, noting that the teacher was “removed from the classroom and suspended.”
The school district claimed in the second statement that it “was not aware of any fights encouraged or sanctioned” until made aware by parents in an email sent to the principal Oct. 30 that was not read until Oct. 31. The teacher “resigned” during a meeting with Human Resources on Nov. 2 before the school district “could initiate termination proceedings,” according to the second statement reported by Fox 59.
