District holds meeting to address child hit by former staff member, parents left with more questions

DAYTON — Dayton Public Schools met with families Monday night after a video showed a former staff member chasing and hitting a non-verbal 3-year-old boy.

District leaders met with families from Rosa Parks Early Learning Center Monday night to discuss the incident that happened on Aug. 21.

An employee at the school was caught on video hitting a nonverbal student and causing him to fall to the ground, as previously reported by News Center 7.

The meeting was not open to the public, but News Center 7′s Brandon Lewis spoke with and some said the meeting left them with more questions than answers.

Shay Billingsley’s daughter, who has autism, goes to Rosa Parks Early Learning Center.

“When I first saw the video, I actually saw it on social media, on Facebook. I was just terrified, terrified for the child and for the parents. I was concerned,” Billingsley said.

>> ORIGINAL COVERAGE: Dayton school staff member fired after hitting nonverbal student, causing him to fall

The meeting left some parents upset.

“My question is, why did this happen? That was the thing that they could not answer,” Eugena Smith said.

Smith questioned why parents had to find out about the incident through social media and local news.

Meanwhile, others questioned what training staff goes through at the school.

“As a parent with a child that has autism, my daughter is just like that she’ll run off. And I want to make sure that they know how to handle her in a situation like that,” Billingsley said.

News Center 7 previously asked Dayton Public Schools’ Interim Superintendent about the incident.

“We take all incidents seriously, we take students’ safety seriously,” Dr. David Lawrence said.

News Center 7 attempted to speak with Lawrence after the meeting Monday night but did not see him leave.

We will continue following this story and update as it develops.

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