Pflugerville ISD teacher broke kindergartner's fingers, parents say

PFLUGERVILLE, Texas - A kindergartner is recovering after his parents say his teacher broke his fingers at school. 

Donte and Tabathe Moore's son recently started kindergarten at Pflugerville Elementary School. He's five-years-old and has autism. On Sept. 4, they noticed he wasn't acting like himself after school. 

"He said, 'my hand hurts.' I said, 'your hand?' And he said, 'yes.' I said, 'what's wrong with your hand?' He said, 'she broke it. She bent it back,' and he was gesturing like this. 'She bent it back.' I said, 'who? Who bent it back?' And he said, 'my teacher,'" Donte said.

They took him to the hospital. Doctors found fractures on his ring and middle fingers. The case was sent to CPS and Pflugerville ISD police for investigation.

The Moores say their son had told another teacher his hand hurt.

"No one gave him aid. No ice pack, no one took him to the nurse. No one called his parents. No one called us. So our child sat in school for hours most of the day with a broken hand," Tabathe said.

"The ball was dropped," Donte said.

He says their child has behavior plans, and his teacher was communicative before that day.

"Our emotions, of course, are just a roller coaster because there are so many things we're thinking. First off, it hurts, and then there's that sadness. Then there's anger of like, did you really allow a five-year-old kid to sit in pain because he didn't do something you probably wanted him to? We still don't really know the whole reason why," he said.

He says the teacher claimed self-defense.

McKinzie Merrell

"When I hear self-defense, that's atrocious. That's egregious to even say you're trying to defend yourself from a five-year-old," Donte said.

Pflugerville Elementary School principal Genia Antoine sent a letter to families:

A letter to families reads:

"Dear Pflugerville ES Parents/Guardians,

I wanted to take a moment to inform you about a situation that occurred this past week on our campus. We were informed by a fellow parent that there was an unfortunate incident where a student was injured during the school day, allegedly by a teacher.

As soon as we were informed of this, we contacted our PfISD police and administration, and the teacher was immediately placed on leave while we conducted a thorough investigation. I want to reassure you that the teacher is no longer employed by the district. Campus staff has contacted all parents of students in the classroom individually.

We understand the gravity of these situations, and the safety of our students has always been our top priority.

Please know that we will always contact you immediately if we have a situation that directly impacts your student. We remain dedicated to the safety and well-being of our students and will continue to take every measure possible to ensure a safe learning environment."

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Pflugerville ISD added they are working on disciplinary actions with the other teacher, and the incident has been sent to the police for further action.

"It's a lot of trauma," Donte said.

He says his son doesn't want to sleep in his room and can't do much on his own because his dominant hand was the one injured.

"For a mother and father and siblings, it's been hard on our whole family," Tabathe said. "No one reached out and apologized to us."

"We have to do a better job at understanding that what could look like negative behavior sometimes is their language of trying to get help, or they're not understanding something," Donte said. "I just really want not only Pflugerville ISD, any ISD, not just special needs children, all children, to feel safe when they're in the school setting."

The Moores have since transferred their son to a different school but say he's still working through the fear of going to school.