A University of Chicago charter school will pay $125,000 to a special education student who was taunted and called an “idiot” by teachers during a disturbing incident captured on video, according to court records. .
A federal judge recently approved the payment, which resolves a civil rights lawsuit filed late last year by the student's mother on behalf of her son. The school quickly removed the teacher from the classroom, but denied any wrongdoing before reaching a settlement.
The charter school said in a statement that it is working with staff to strengthen how best to support students, families and staff in the wake of the incident.
“The University of Chicago Charter School has a long-standing commitment to educational excellence, paying close attention and consideration to the well-being of all students,” the statement said. “We do not condone or tolerate the type of behavior that occurred on the Woodlawn High School campus on December 15, 2022, which is contrary to our policies and values. We believe that all children have the right to receive an education in a welcoming and protective school in an environment of mutual respect.
“It happened. It was traumatic. And that trauma will last a long time,” said Jordan Marsh, an attorney who represented the boy and his mother. “But I think this is a fair settlement, and (the boy's mother) also thinks this is a fair settlement.”
The resolution comes months after the Tribune published audio from a video of an incident that occurred at the charter school's Woodlawn campus in December 2022. A minute-long recording taken on another student's cell phone provided a public glimpse into the unrest. A funded high school supervised by a prestigious university.
The video shows the adult teacher and teacher's assistant yelling and belittling the 15-year-old student, but the student did not mumble and sat at his desk until ordered to leave the classroom. It remained. The Tribune did not publish the video because it showed several special education students who were not directly involved in the incident.
As the recording begins, special education teacher Aaron Penix walks up to the boy sitting by the window. According to an internal report describing the recording, the teacher “bent over his desk, hovered, and placed his face in front of the student's face.”
Penix stood over the boy and yelled, “What aren't you doing?” According to the video. The boy mumbled back that he didn't want to talk.
The teacher then pointed at the student's face, but the boy “slumped in his seat,” the investigation report said. The girl sitting next to the student started laughing, and the other kids started laughing too.
The teacher's aide, Latilda Sait, is not initially seen in the recording, but her voice can be clearly heard about 15 seconds into the video.
“Shut up! Shut up!” she screams, according to the video.
The student then appears to start crying at his desk.
“And now he started crying,” Penix said in front of the class, according to investigative records. “Let him cry. Let him cry.”
The teacher continues to call out the students in the video. The boy retorts frequently, but his mumbled responses are almost inaudible.
After about 40 seconds of interaction, the teacher went to the site and said she needed to remove the boy from the classroom. In the recording, the assistant can be heard using profanity while ordering students to leave the classroom.
“Bitch, get out,” she said in the video. “If you don’t say (expletive), get out!”
When the student got up from his desk and headed for the door, Sait “almost ran and rushed towards him,” according to the investigative report. In the video, she appears to be pushing his face with her finger, and a security guard can be seen getting between them.
“Knock me out, guys. Knock me out, guys,” she screamed on the recording as security escorted students out of the classroom. Penix can also be heard screaming as he leaves.
“You stupid kid,” Saito yelled as he left the room, according to the recording. The video ends with Sait picking up a cell phone and calling the student's mother, the report said.
The site told school officials and the student's mother that the boy had threatened her, prompting her to make physical contact with him to defuse the situation. No threats can be heard on the video.
She resigned later that night after the boy's mother, Stephanie Holmes, sent her a video questioning inconsistencies in the record and the site's events.
Throughout the night, Penix sent emails to administrators expressing regret about the incident, according to a copy obtained by the Tribune. Records show the apology was sent after Holmes shared the video with the site.
The next morning, the boy's mother went to school and reported the incident. When she arrived, her administrator told her that he had already accepted the site's resignation and put Penix on her leave.
The school fired Penix in January 2023 following an internal investigation, records show. His termination letter, obtained by the Tribune through an open records request, says he violated campus rules that require him to exercise “good judgment, honesty and integrity.”
Penix could not be reached for comment. He is currently listed as part of the special education team at another school in the Chicago area.
Sait was arrested and charged with misdemeanor larceny for allegedly groping a student during an argument. She pleaded guilty to her crime in May and was placed on probation and ordered to attend anger management.
She told the Tribune in January that she was no longer teaching and was looking to move on with her life. She said she loved the student and knew how his mother felt about the boy in her heart.
Students continue to attend charter schools. His mother told the Tribune that he has been seeing a counselor and continues to struggle with his emotions.
Mr. Holmes filed a federal lawsuit in December against the University of Chicago charter system, accusing it of failing to hire, train, supervise and retain employees.
“When I saw the video, I felt powerless to protect my son,” Holmes said in January. “But speaking out may help someone's child.”
