According to her mother, a Texas student featured in a viral video hitting and verbally abusing a Black teacher has been struggling with autism and depression.
In an interview with WFAA-TV, Brittany Evans, the teenage girl's mother, said she had visited Castleberry High School at least 10 times before the incident. Evans was meeting with school officials because she wanted to move her daughter to a special needs class.
Aside from her autism and depression, the mother said that her daughter is also bipolar and easily distressed. She believes that if her daughter's school labeled her child correctly as someone with special needs, this teacher incident would not have happened.
Evans also said that it upsets her to see her daughter's viral video, but she's even more upset for the teacher caught in the situation.
Castleberry High School Investigates with Law Enforcement
In the viral video, Evans' daughter was seen walking up to her teacher, who was making a phone call on the landline at her desk. The student appeared to have rudely ended her teacher's call. When the teacher attempted to talk to her, she hit her in the arm.
The teacher then walked out of her desk so she could approach the student closer. Their conversation wasn't entirely clear in the video, but at some point, the student picked up the phone and called someone while mentioning racial slurs. She then threw the phone to the ground and walked out of the classroom.
Video shows a #student hitting #teacher and throwing a phone towards her way, this happened at Castleberry High School in #FortWorth pic.twitter.com/De0MVKTgUJ
— SmashDaTopic (@SmashDaTopic) November 19, 2021
According to reports, it's unclear what started the incident. Castleberry High School said it is investigating with the police involved because what the student did could be considered a "criminal activity." The United Educators Association noted that this incident might be seen as "assaulting a public servant," which is a felony in Texas.
School Suspends Daughter
Evans noted that the teacher was patient with her daughter. She also called the teacher a super sweet and amazing woman. The school also commended the teacher for her calm demeanor and display of professionalism.
The mother said that she does not know where her daughter learned the racial slurs because no one in their family speaks that way. Castleberry High School has suspended Evans' daughter for three days, but the mother wants to apologize to the teacher personally.
Meanwhile, the school has not mentioned anything about meeting with Evans or about the student's special needs. According to the Texas Tribune, Castleberry High School has a special needs program with at least 9.6 percent of the student population. However, more than half of the student population are at-risk students with limited proficiency or are economically disadvantaged.
