MARSHALL, Texas — 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 child with autism 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, special education student with autism, 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 him by the sleeve and slung him toward a desk. The teacher also said she had previously witnessed Davis kick the child. Other paraprofessionals in the classroom also witness 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.
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