A teacher was arrested after being caught on video appearing to strike a student with special needs. One witness told the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office that the teacher had previously been aggressive toward students.
There was a camera there, but that does not always happen in these situations. That is why people who care about students with special needs are lobbying lawmakers to put cameras in all classrooms for those students.
Cheryl Andrews, 69, a paraprofessional at Flagler County’s Indian Trails Middle School, can be seen on CCTV video hitting a student in the back of the head in the school cafeteria.
The report then says that Andrews pushed the student’s head hard and pulled it back toward her chest before putting another hand on his face.
“I feel bad for the child. “This disabled child could not even go home and tell their parents what happened at school,” said Stacey Hoaglund, president of the Autism Society of Florida.
The child has disabilities and can not talk, so the sheriff’s office says he can not explain what might have happened to him. About 35% of children with autism do not speak, according to Hoaglund.
“People with autism worry that these kinds of things happen more often than we think they do, since how can you really know if your child can not come home and tell you what happened at school?”
“You have to have a lot of faith in the adults you think are watching your child during the day,” Hoaglund said.
This is why Hoaglund has been trying to get cameras put in all Florida classrooms for kids with special needs. In May, the pilot program that Broward County Schools had been running for three years came to an end. Hoaglund says that the results look good.
“The teachers thought it kept them safe too. We know this because we all work better when there is a camera on us, so we think that the kids will get better lessons and teachers will pay more attention to how they feel and how to deal with their behavior problems, Hoaglund said.
Hoaglund says she hopes the results will help pass a bill in the next session of the legislature that would bring cameras into all classrooms for kids with special needs.
“We really think that there could be better teaching and better learning if there were cameras in the classrooms,” said Hoaglund.
He says that some of the new members have a personal connection to students who have special needs. This is what she hopes will help her bill pass.
What about Andrews? Detectives say she told them she did not know why she did what she did. The Flagler County Public School District says she is on administrative leave with pay.
