2 Columbus Schools Aides Suspended In Connection With Alleged Student Beating

Two Columbus City Schools aides were put on paid leave after an accusation that one beat a special-needs student while the other watched, 10TV’s Tanisha Mallett reported Thursday.

The beating allegedly took place inside a seclusion room at Beatty Park Elementary School, located on Trevitt Street on the east side.

According to district documents, an 11-year-old boy had bruises on his body allegedly at the hands of aide Fred Harrison. Aide Leslie Polk allegedly blocked the doors and the windows in the room.

In the report, Harrison is accused of grabbing the boy’s arms and slamming his head against the wall. It also said that Harrison pushed the boy’s head down and kneed him in the chest.

According to the report, the boy told the principal that he got angry and would not calm down when the two aides took him into the seclusion room, and one of them beat him. The principal immediately contacted his superior and Franklin County Children Services, documents stated.

The principal’s report stated that when the boy started to cry, Harrison allegedly said, “That’s not all I can do. I can keep adding people,” Mallett reported.

According to Polk’s personnel file, she recently received an unsatisfactory rating in dealing with difficult students, specifically that she loses control when students have physical and emotional outbursts, Mallett reported.

District officials said that they were reviewing the allegations, and both aides would have a hearing.

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