Sara Elizabeth Davis

An aide in a special education classroom at what is now Price T. Young Fine Arts Academy in Marshall was fired a few days after a report that she abused a non-verbal autistic child in the classroom.

The aide, Sara Davis, 52, of Jefferson was indicted in November 2019 and arrested in August on a charge of injuring a child. The case involves a nonverbal, autistic special education student, according to documents provided by attorneys representing the family of the child.

Documents say the incident occurred after some of the students in the classroom knocked over a container of straws and Davis asked the child to pick them up. The teacher in the classroom reported the child started slapping Davis on her arms and chest area, at which point Davis slapped the child on the face, grabbed the child by the sleeve and slung the child toward a desk.

The teacher also said she had previously witnessed Davis kick the child. Other paraprofessionals in the classroom also witnessed the incident in September 2019. The teacher, who recorded the incident on her phone, reported it to her principal by email that night, the report says.

Marshall ISD, without naming the aide, said she was first placed on administrative leave and then fired on Sept. 30, 2019.

“On September 27, 2019, prior to the current MISD Administration and Price T. Young (PTY) Elementary Principal being in leadership within Marshall ISD, an incident allegedly occurred at Price T. Young in a classroom that concerned a physical altercation between a classroom paraprofessional and a student … .” the district said in a prepared statement. “The administration at that time in Marshall ISD responded quickly and decisively following the receipt of the report. Marshall ISD is committed to providing a safe and secure educational environment for all of its students. This is a commitment that is expected of all MISD personnel, from the Central Administration, the individual campus personnel, the MISD support staff, and within all other levels of the District. Any reports of misconduct are taken very seriously.”

That campus is now Price T. Young Fine Arts Academy and is under new leadership.

“The PTY Fine Arts Academy provides our district’s elementary age children with the opportunity to learn vocal and instrumental music, theater, dance and the visual arts. The core curriculum is also a focal point of each student’s education, yet the safety and security of each child will always be the most important aspect of our children’s educations in MISD,” the district’s statement says. “We understand that if a student doesn’t feel safe, he or she cannot reach their full potential academically.”

The district did not respond to specific questions about whether the teacher and other aides in the classroom were disciplined, if training for dealing with special needs/autistic children had been provided to aides in that classroom — in the report a coupe of aides said they had not received such training, and if there was a video camera in the classroom.

Attorneys Geoff Hoover and Shane McGuire, who represent families in a special education child abuse case in Longview ISD, are representing the family in the Marshall ISD case.