DENVER — A Denver family is speaking out against Denver Public Schools, claiming the district didn’t do enough to protect their 12-year-old son, Tyler, after he was allegedly hit by a paraprofessional.
Tyler was born with a rare genetic condition that causes benign tumors to develop in different parts of the body, which causes severe developmental delays, autism and seizures. Due to his condition, Tyler has a tough time communicating, according to his mom, Alison Brainard.
“We’re always going to have a child maybe at the six or seven year mark,” Alison said.
Tyler's dad, Jason Brainard, told Denver7 he received a call on March 9 from his son's principal, saying Tyler had gotten hurt at school. Tyler was a fifth grader at Westerly Creek Elementary at the time.
“I asked the principal what happened, and she said that they don't know yet, but he looked like he had been hit,” the father said.
Jason said the principal showed him a picture of the mark Tyler had on his back. When he asked the principal what happened, she said a paraprofessional followed Tyler when he left his special needs classroom to see his therapist.
“Then, Tyler went into another classroom, and the paraprofessional went after him,” Jason said. “And when the therapist went into the room, she found Tyler huddled in the corner.”
Jason said Tyler was screaming out the paraprofessional’s name.
“The paraprofessional hit him over and over again,” the father claimed.
DPS launched an investigation, placed the employee on paid leave and alerted Denver police. Alison said officers tried to interview their son with no luck.
“He got into the room at one point and just freaked out within a minute and wasn't ever able to testify about the incident that happened,” she said.
The Denver District Attorney’s Office told Denver7 police did present the case but the office refused it because prosecutors believed there was no reasonable likelihood of conviction.
"It seems like the investigation was very discriminatory towards our son because he has special needs and a developmental delay,” Jason said.
The Brainards learned in an email last week that the paraprofessional no longer works for the district. Denver7 asked DPS if they were fired or resigned, but the school district told Denver7 it couldn’t disclose that information. The Brainards said Tyler’s special needs teacher told them the paraprofessional resigned last week — one week before the start of the school year.
“They send us an email that, I think, very deliberately, you know, tries to demonstrate that they terminated him. But what we really know is that he was on the schedule to start the new school year,” Jason said. “So for them to not fire him or take him out of this position and to let him return for this school year into the same classroom with more vulnerable children, I think it is just incredibly, I think, harmful.”
The Brainards say they’re also upset the investigation took months to complete. They told Denver7 they have yet to receive any details about the results other than it’s a personnel matter.
The family says they aren’t going to give up the fight for their son and other vulnerable children. As for Tyler, he's now in the sixth grade at another DPS school.