GREENUP COUNTY, Ky. (LEX18) — A lawsuit filed against the Greenup County Board of Education alleges systematic abuse of five special education students at McKell Elementary School, with security footage documenting more than 1,100 incidents over 19 school days.
The case comes after LEX 18 reported in October on a similar disturbing situation at Raceland-Worthington Independent Middle School, where special education teachers were allegedly abusing four non-verbal children with autism and Down Syndrome.
LEX 18 Investigates
Lawsuit filed against KY school for alleged abuse of non-verbal, autistic kids
Several parents from McKell Elementary School reached out to LEX18 to report similar incidents happening to special education students at their school.
LEX18 obtained the lawsuit filed by one parent whose child, J.C., is diagnosed with level 3 autism, which makes him relatively non-verbal. The suit targets the Greenup County Board of Education and staff members at McKell Elementary.
The 127-page lawsuit alleges the five minors: J.C., B.W., H.C., L.L., and D.G. suffered abuse from Oct. 1 to Nov. 15, 2024, claiming the Greenup County Board of Education was negligent, careless, and subjecting the minors to abuse.
During the 19 school days, the five children suffered a total of 1,188 counts of various types of abuse or neglect, according to the lawsuit. Of those counts, 531 are alleged physical abuse incidents.
The lawsuit provides detailed day-by-day accounts with time stamps of when the alleged abuse occurred, all reportedly captured on security footage.
According to the lawsuit, on Oct. 16, teachers were seen hitting, kicking, and pushing several students.
On Oct. 21, the lawsuit states one teacher was seen kissing a student and two other teachers telling another student, “You’re so stinking cute, but I want to stab you.”
Two days later, the lawsuit alleges one teacher told a student, “Shut up, I’m going to kill you.” Forty minutes later, a teacher was allegedly seen grabbing a student by the wrist and slinging him to the floor.
A document filed on Oct. 24, 2024, shows text messages between the Greenup County superintendent and various board members discussing staff, parents, and students.
The lawsuit shows some text messages discussing deleting conversations and keeping the children off NBC News.
One text message describes an incident with a special education student who broke his nose. The texts say he fell out of his chair and landed funny.
McKell Elementary School policy states: “Failure to report a suspected child abuse to the proper authorities is a felony for school employees.”
LEX18 has reached out to both the parents’ attorney and Greenup County Superintendent for a comment, but neither has gotten back to us.