A former Texas teacher is under investigation for allegedly harming a special education student in her care as well as feeding her class melatonin sleep gummies.
Last September a probe was launched into Amber Reynolds, a former special education teacher with Humble Independent School District, after an elementary school principal allegedly saw her “using an improper hold” on a 5-year-old student, according to court documents obtained by KPRC 2.
It was later revealed that Reynolds’ colleagues had reportedly seen her using improper discipline methods on her nonverbal autistic students, including yanking them up by their arms, dragging them across the floor, and thumping them on their ears.
There were also allegations that she would often take the 5-year-old child into the bathroom for a spanking and that she fed some students melatonin gummies to make them sleepy.
Reynolds was arrested only on the first offense and had a probable cause hearing for one count of injury to a child on January 4. This is a felony offense, yet punishment upon conviction can vary depending on the injury incurred — in this case, bruising, reportedly.
The former educator, whose state certification is currently under review, was released on a $10,000 bond and was due back in court on January 10.
Stacey Watson, whose son had Reynolds as a special education teacher in a different Humble ISD school in 2014, told KHOU 11 that the district “knew what this teacher was capable of.”
“He would come home telling me she would throw him on the floor, throw him up against the wall, call him names, or drag him across the room,” she said, per KHOU 11.
Watson pursued legal action against Humble ISD and Reynolds, but her lawsuit was eventually thrown out.
“There weren’t enough teachers at the time who would come forward,” she recalled. “They weren’t willing to take an 8-year-old special needs child’s word over an adult who said she did no wrong.”
In late October, similar allegations of misconduct emerged at DeSoto ISD, where a special education teacher’s assistant named Gloria Lowe allegedly beat a nonverbal student with a power cord, as previously covered in The Dallas Express. This and other alleged acts of abuse were caught on camera by another student in the classroom.
Lowe was arrested on felony assault charges and was released on a $15,000 bond.
While the teacher shortage has been a rampant issue across the country, the need for qualified personnel to teach special education in the Lone Star State has increased considerably over the past few years, as previously covered by The Dallas Express.
This past year saw over 100 Texas teacher scandals make headlines, with allegations including having an inappropriate relationship with a student, as was the case for a former athletic director and chemistry teacher in separate incidents at Dallas ISD.
