TAMPA, Fla. – A teacher has been arrested after being seen on video appearing to strike a student with special needs. One witness told the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office the teacher has been aggressive toward students in the past.

While this incident was caught on camera, that’s not always the case in these situations. It’s why advocates for special needs students are rallying for support from legislators to get cameras in all special needs classrooms.

In CCTV video, you can see 69-year-old Cheryl Andrews, a paraprofessional at Indian Trails Middle School in Flagler County, appear to walk up to a student inside the school cafeteria and strike the student in the back of the head. The report then says Andrews aggressively shoved the student’s head, pulling it backward toward her chest before placing another hand around his face.

“My heart goes out for the child. This child is a child with a disability who was not able to even go home and tell mom and dad what happened to them at school,” Autism Society of Florida President Stacey Hoaglund said.

According to the sheriff’s office, the child has disabilities and is non-verbal, which means he doesn’t have the communication skills to articulate what may have happened to him. As Hoaglund explains, about 35 percent of children with autism are non-verbal.

“Our fear from the autism community is that these types of incidences are actually more pervasive than we think that they are because if you have a child who can’t come home and tell you what happened at school, how do you really know? You have to put an enormous amount of trust into the adults that you think are taking care of your child during the day,” Hoaglund said.

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That’s why Hoaglund has been pushing for cameras in all special needs classrooms in Florida. For the last three years, Broward County Schools has been doing so as part of a pilot program which just ended in May. Hoaglund says the results have been promising.

“The teachers found that it protected them as well. We know because we all do a better job if we work in a space that has a camera on us, so we feel like better teaching will go on, more consideration for the children, their emotional responses to things, how to address their behavior concerns,” Hoaglund said.

Hoaglund says she’s hopeful the results will help to pass a bill in the next legislative session requiring cameras in all special needs classrooms.

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“We really think that there could be better teaching and better learning if there were cameras in the classrooms,” Hoaglund said.

Hoaglund says some of the new members elected have a personal connection to students with special needs. She’s hoping that will help in getting her bill passed.

As for Andrews, detectives say during her interview she told them she did not know why she did this. The Flagler County Public School District confirms she is on paid administrative leave.

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