LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – A Lubbock parent and lawyer say the arrest of one teacher’s aide is not enough after an alleged incident in a Frenship classroom.
T’nae Harrell, a former Frenship special education aide at Legacy Elementary School, was arrested May 7 on a voyeurism charge. According to a police report, she admitted to acting inappropriately with a 7-year-old student.
A Frenship ISD police probable cause affidavit shows Harrell admitted to talking about the student’s breast size and lifting up her shirt to show another staff member. The affidavit shows Harrell called for the student to come to her, pulled up her shirt and turned her toward another staff member, saying her breasts were “round like a porn star” and “perky.”
Delayed reporting raises questions
A police affidavit shows the incident happened six days before it was reported to police. The document shows four staff members witnessed the incident, which was also captured by classroom security video.
The incident happened April 29, a Wednesday. The district confirmed a substitute teacher did not report the incident to school administrators until the following Monday. The principal immediately notified police, and Harrell was placed on leave.
“Obviously, if this happened on Wednesday and it didn’t make its way out of the classroom until Monday, there were several people that did not do what they were supposed to do,” said Dwight McDonald, a Lubbock lawyer.
Texas is a mandatory reporting state. Last year, the legislature changed the law so professionals with reasonable cause to believe a child has been abused must report it within 24 hours, instead of the previous 48 hours.
“That’s the concern is, where’s the accountability for the other adults and the professionals that were in that room who did not, obviously did not follow the law?” McDonald said.
Parent raised concerns before arrest
Breana Blackwell’s daughter Paisley was in the same class as the victim over the last school year. Paisley is nonverbal, but her mom said she could tell something was wrong.
“She, I mean, immediately would come home just so overstimulated and angry. And I just knew something was off from that very first day I walked into that classroom,” Blackwell said.
Blackwell said her family’s hired nurse would go to class with Paisley and come home with concerns. She said her nurse told her one time her daughter’s G-tube was pulled out, but no one could tell her how it happened. Blackwell showed several emails she sent to the school’s principal about these instances.
“It was very much like come in, let’s talk about it. Well, this is her first year teaching SPED classes. Let’s just give her a chance, give her a few weeks to get used to everything. And my kid is not a guinea pig,” Blackwell said.
Blackwell said the principal called her regarding another email she had sent and told her the teacher’s aide would not be in the classroom anymore.
“I assumed it was because of my e-mail and I was like, wow, they’re listening. Unfortunately, it was because a student had been humiliated the way that she was, which is far worse,” Blackwell said. “A lot of people hear about these things happening in the news and it’s, you know, the worst case scenarios, but nobody really sees the little things that lead up to that.”
District response
Frenship ISD provided a statement confirming Harrell, a special education teacher, two substitutes and a private-duty nurse were all present at the time of the incident.
The special education teacher was placed on leave for the remainder of the school year for failure to report. According to the district, this teacher had previously submitted her intent to resign prior to the investigation.
In addition to the criminal investigation involving Harrell, Frenship has reported details of the case to CPS and the State Board of Education Certification, including the failure to immediately report the incident by the adults in the classroom.
McDonald said another parent reached out to him after Harrell’s arrest. She told him she requested the security camera be placed in the classroom back in February. The district confirmed a parent made this request. McDonald said she also filed a report with the Frenship Police Department regarding the lack of timely reporting.
“And not that there aren’t things that happen, but when things happen, I don’t think anyone is holding Frenship Independent School District directly accountable for what the paraprofessional did. But you are being held accountable for how you responded to it,” McDonald said.
A district spokesperson said because of the ongoing criminal investigation involving personnel matters, they are limited in other details they can share. The spokesperson said creating a safe learning environment is top priority and they take these investigations very seriously.
Blackwell said she hopes the district will take parents’ concerns more seriously in the future.
“Always trust your gut. You know best, you know your kid more than anybody. And if you feel like something is off, you need to say something,” Blackwell said.
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