Dayton school staff member fired after hitting nonverbal student, causing him to fall

WHIO Staff
·2 min read
2

A Dayton Public Schools employee was fired after he was caught on video hitting a nonverbal student and causing him to fall to the ground.

News Center 7′s Mike Campbell spoke to the parents of the child in an exclusive interview who shared the video with us. In the video, you can see the student-run into the hallway as the staff member follows. The worker hits the child’s head causing him to fall to the ground before picking him up and carrying him by his feet.

DPS Interim Superintendent Dr. David Lawrence confirmed in a statement the incident happened on August 21st at Rosa Parks Early Learning Center.

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“After this incident, the District took immediate action to investigate and remove the employee. The actions seen in the clip are contrary to all employee training, do not promote a culture conducive to learning, and are not tolerated in Dayton Public Schools,” Lawrence said. “Although the District cannot publicly comment on specific personnel matters, parents and guardians should be assured that the individual is no longer employed. The safety of all students and staff is the District’s utmost priority, and we appreciate the support of families as we work to provide a safe school environment for all.”

The child’s father, Robert Tootle, said he found out about the incident when he went to pick the three-year-old up from school and was pulled into the principal’s office.

Tootle said the school told him there was an incident where the child bumped his head, but said they didn’t mention how he was picked up and carried away.

He said Child Protective Services informed him of what happened and told him that there was a video of the incident.

It wasn’t until Monday that the parents received the video and were able to see what happened.

“It just made me mad,” Tootle said.

A spokesperson for Dayton police said that they are investigating the incident.