A family filed a lawsuit against the El Paso School District, a former special education teacher, a paraprofessional and principal, that alleges physical abuse against special needs students.
The lawsuit was filed on Sept. 30 by a family who claims their special needs son, who was three years old at the time, was part of a group of kids who endured physical abuse by Rachel Lucas and David Gonzales.
Lucas and Gonzales were both arrested in July, charged with bodily injury to a child, for a separate case involving a four-year-old student.
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It all stems from an incident that happened in May.
The new lawsuit alleges that EPISD failed to screen Lucas and Gonzales before placing them in a classroom with nonverbal special needs students. It goes on to say their employment histories, which showed alleged red flags, were ignored.
The parents in this case said their son is severely disabled and was one of several students who were allegedly hit with cellphones, a broom, a dustpan and chairs.
The lawsuit claims parents were promised access to surveillance footage that shows evidence of abuse but then were never shown it.
Lucas and Gonzales were arrested in July, charged with bodily injury to a child.
That arrest affidavit for Lucas stated that video showed her abusing six different non-verbal needs students as well as verbally accosting others.
Gonzales was also accused of being caught on video hitting a student with his hand, making the student cry.
The lawsuit said parents brought concerns to the principal and district officials about the teachers prior to May. This included reported unexplained injuries and behavioral changes in students, the lawsuit stated.
EPISD is accused of failing to train and supervise special education staff, failing to adopt or enforce policies to protect non-verbal disabled students from foreseeable abuse, failing to monitor classrooms and allocating fewer resources and safeguards to special education classrooms.
The family is seeking monetary damages of over $1 million or monetary relief determined by a jury, recovery of costs of medical and psychological care for the child saying he suffered physical injuries, mental anguish and impairment of education opportunities, and loss of his constitutional and statutory rights.
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