Midlothian ISD staff members put on leave after incident involving special needs student

Two Midlothian ISD staff members are on leave after an incident involving a student at McClatchey Elementary School. Police are investigating and the student’s mother told FOX 4 what happened.

No teacher has been charged with a crime, but two teachers have been placed on leave while the district and Midlothian police investigate.                     

Kristen Perez was picking up her autistic son from McClatchy Elementary in Midlothian ISD on April 9th.

Perez was startled to see an officer escorting the 7-year-old.

Perez provided photos to FOX 4 of the bruising and scrapes she said her child did not have before school. Perez says her son, who just transferred to the school for special-needs classes that week, blamed the teacher. 

Perez filed a police report and said the district showed her video of the alleged abuse. 

She claims the video shows her son being pushed to the ground and being restrained with the teacher’s knees on his back and squeezed.

What they're saying:

"…and he said, that man that you think is nice. And I was encouraging him that this guy was a nice man because, I mean we trust the people at the school," said Perez.

Perez confirmed to FOX 4's David Sentendrey that this was a teacher whom Perez had previously met and thought was nice. 

"I was not aware of the extent of how bad it was," said Perez. "My son was gasping and saying like you’re choking me."

In a statement to FOX 4 Midlothian ISD says: 

"We are actively and thoroughly investigating this situation…the two staff members assigned to the classroom were placed on administrative leave…the Midlothian Police Department was immediately involved from the onset of the investigation, and the district reported the incident to child protective services."

What's next:

Midlothian ISD or the police have not released that video. Midlothian police say the district and the child’s family have both been cooperating.