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Parent Claims Teacher's Aide Beat Her Special Needs Child

CHICAGO (CBS) -- The mother of a 12-year-old special needs child is making a serious charge against a charter school employee.

She says her son was beaten and slammed to the ground as other children looked on, CBS 2's Jim Williams reports.

Monice Guess describes her son Rashawn as, "Hyper. Moody at times." But she insists her did not deserve what happened on Oct. 5.

At Foundations College Prep on 109th Place, Guess says a teacher's aide attacked Rashawn in a classroom.

"She grabbed him by the neck, threw him against some steel lockers that's in the classroom and threw him down the ground and she slapped him a few times," Guess says.

According a school incident report, Rashawn and the teacher's aide argued after he had a verbal altercation with another student.

The report says the teacher's aide ordered Rashawn to leave the classroom and he refused.

Witnesses describe the teacher's aide driving Rashawn to the ground, and the boy trying to fight back.

"He did tell me after she attacked him, he picked up a chair. But any dog would bite back," Guess describes.

And still, Guess says the school should be a safe haven for her son, who has special needs. "And to know someone physically attacked by son, it's very traumatic to him, traumatic to me and my family."

Micki O'Neil, executive director of Foundations, told CBS 2 the teacher's aide is no longer employed at the school after an internal investigation.

"We expect our staff members to hold protecting students' safety and well-being as their utmost priority," O'Neil said. " As such, when a staff member engaged aggressively with a 7th grade student earlier this month, we acted immediately to address the incident. This investigation led to the determination that, while witness accounts differ from the mother's characterization of the incident, the staff member's behavior was unacceptable."

Guess has filed a police report and wants the teacher's aide arrested.

In response to the claims, CPS spokesman Michael Passman said, "We are deeply concerned by these allegations, and we have engaged the charter school operator to ensure the allegations were appropriately addressed and proper protocols were followed."

 

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