One Texas teacher lost her cool in a Houston-area elementary school when dealing with a purportedly unruly second grade student. Now, she stands accused of punching the child in the face and sitting on him in a hallway. School surveillance cameras apparently captured the incident.
The Harris County District Attorney’s Office charged Alief Independent School District teacher Lisa Allison, 48, with felony injury to a child after police reviewed the Landis Elementary School security footage, which reportedly recorded the altercation between the teacher and the young student. She later described the child to police as being disobedient. Although the alleged incident happened on October 12, authorities filed the charge against Allison on Monday, October 31.
According to court documents obtained by KHOU, the teacher told police investigators she ordered the boy to leave her classroom because he was disruptive and making noises. Allison said that once outside the classroom the child began kicking lockers. Other reports noted she came out of the classroom to escort him to the front office.
In his police statement, the second grader alleged that when Allison ordered him to leave the classroom, she walked out into the hallway and said “I’m tired of you” before grabbing and punching him, KHOU reported. The boy also asserted that his teacher sat on him. “He said the defendant then pushed him down to the floor, jumped on his back, and sat her bottom (buttocks) on his back which caused him pain,” the court document stated.
While the surveillance system did not capture anything that occurred within the classroom, it recorded the incident that ensued in the school’s hallway. The security camera footage purportedly showed Allison following the boy from the classroom to the hallway where she grabbed him by the hand. Reportedly, the two struggled. When he yanked his hand away, Allison pulled him by the back and punched him “with a closed fist,” to the right side of his face, KPRC reported.
The video also allegedly showed Allison forcing the boy to the floor and sitting on top of him. School administrators found her and ordered her to get off the student. They called police and opened an investigation.
On Wednesday, KHOU spoke to Landis Elementary parents picking up their children as the news of the allegations against the teacher broke. “That’s crazy, I don’t think they should be doing anything like that, if it did happen,” said parent Mito Garcia. Another parent, Diana Rodriguez, told them: “I mean, if you’re a teacher, you go to school for this.” She added: “To be able to know you have to have patience.”
According to News Fix, Allison admitted holding the boy down on the floor, but said she did not recall hitting him. After reviewing the alleged evidence on video, law enforcement decided to move forward with pressing the charge of felony injury to a child against the teacher. Her bail was set at $10,000.
KTRK reported Alief ISD officials said Allison was “immediately placed on leave when allegations were brought to the attention of campus and district administrators and will not return.”
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