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The Tennessee Conservative [By Paula Gomes] –
The parents of a 6-year-old are suing the Williamson County Board of Education for $600,000 over what school superintendent Jason Golden called “abusive” treatment of their daughter received last year as a Kindergartner.
The girl’s parents say the money is needed for her ongoing therapy as well as to pay for her education as she is now unable to have a “safe educational experience” at the school.
The lawsuit states that the case “involves a physical injury predicated upon negligence” both in the training of the staff named in the court documents but also the monitoring of those same employees.
Spring Hill couple Erin and Sean Brodarick say that staff members, including the Principal and Vice Principal, at Longview Elementary School traumatized their child earlier this year as the previous academic year came to a close in May.
The Brodaricks state that educators and the School Resource Officer (SRO) turned a molehill — in this case, a common Elementary School argument between two friends — into a mountain.
According to the girl’s parents, the trouble began when their daughter and a friend quarreled over a necklace, with the disagreement amping up in the cafeteria.
Erin Brodarick says her daughter just wanted to get her necklace back and that the dispute which was typical of children their daughter’s age had not turned into a physical altercation nor was it dangerous. At least, not until staff stepped in and escalated the trivial matter into a major event.
According to the lawsuit, Angela Albanese grabbed the Brodarick’s daughter, pulled her arm, and pushed her into a cafeteria table before grabbing her in a full body hold. The unnecessary level of force led to seven adults restraining the child with their legs and feet to press and pin her to the ground.
Surveillance video and body-camera footage that was reviewed by the Brodaricks and later shared with news media shows the SRO, Deputy Andrew J. Montgomery of the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office, using an inappropriate and unjustified restraint on their daughter, with the principal’s blessing, to carry her from the cafeteria to meet with Principal Kathy Ball in her office.
The lawsuit calls Principal Kathy Ball, Assistant Principal (AP) April Lee, Angela Albanese, Valerie Ndiaye, and Deputy Andrew J. Montgomery all as “poorly trained” or “trained improperly” on how they handled what transpired but also in how they “compounded their lack of training or their poor training by using ad hoc de-escalation methods.”
Ironically, both Albanese and Ndiaye work in Student Support Services at Longview, a position that is designed to assist students with a variety of needs, including those students who have disabilities, in order to ensure that they receive appropriate support.
In Lee’s office, the Brodarick’s daughter was pushed and kicked, her shoes were removed and thrown, she was mocked and shamed, and deprived of her lunch despite staff knowing that their daughter was prone to irritability if she did not eat.
Attempting to gain compliance with the child, Ball gave food to Lee, who ate it in front of the child, while Ndiaye bragged about what she had eaten for lunch.
Instead of using any legitimate intervention, including a calming room, the existence of which the administration was well aware, the adults held the door of the office shut, blocked the child from the door, said demeaning things about her intelligence and appearance, and threatened that she would not be allowed to go to 1st grade. They also laid hands on her repeatedly while asking her 74 questions in the span of 34 minutes, changing their demands frequently.
When it was all over, Ball failed to communicate what had happened to the Brodaricks and no incident was officially logged. They learned of the matter 3 hours after it took place when Montgomery told the girl’s mother a version of the story, greatly diminishing the actual events.
Golden spoke with the Brodaricks in a meeting that was recorded and told them that the episode looked “abusive” while also reassuring them that the district would handle the matter with gravity.
But according to the lawsuit, the seriousness of the incident has not yet been conveyed to the named actors as well as other employees as gossip about events has made its way back to the Brodaricks.
Despite this, there have been some repercussions following the incident. Ball has resigned after an internal investigation was conducted and is no longer employed with Williamson County Schools.
According to records from the Tennessee State Board of Education, Lee was demoted from AP after being reprimanded in writing, and then transferred to another school entirely.
The Brodaricks hope the lawsuit will lead to changes such as more camera coverage in administrative spaces for additional transparency in the future.
About the Author: Paula Gomes is a Tennessee resident and reporter for The Tennessee Conservative. You can reach Paula at paula@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
2 Responses
I’d guess she’s a little hellion, coddled by her parents and the “school” is “ran” by dimmercraps.
I’ve seen the footage: This was a bizarre overreaction and unnecessary escalation by staff who were apparently “bored”! The appropriate response would have been for a cafeteria staffer to quietly approach to 2 children, sit down or physically get down to their level, gently request “inside voices, please?”, and, again, quietly ask what the problem seemed to be. If necessary, request the disputed item and explain that it would be held until a parent could identify/verify the ownership of the item. ONLY if the Broadarick’s daughter began a full-blown temper tantrum and/or caused a major disruption or damage would the level of involvement/escalation been necessary. And ONLY if they were dealing with a TEENAGER!
The footage is damning, disturbing, and disgusting!