This Shouldn’t Happen to Any Child at the Hands of a School Official

by TRN Staff Writers

A tutor at a Baltimore school has been fired and faces multiple charges of felony child abuse after breaking the jaw of a 7-year old boy.

According to CNN, Trayvon Grayson also lost two teeth when a 25-year old tutor tried to to remove the child from class for misbehaving.  The tutor, Timothy Randall Korr, told police as he was escorting the boy to the principal’s office when Trayvon lost his footing and “hit himself” against the wall.  When police reviewed  a video of the incident from school cameras, they concluded that Korr’s story was a lie and he was charged with harming the boy.

Trayvon suffered major trauma to his head and his mom said, “My son told me that (Korr) threw my son into a wall.  My son had dreams about it all last night.  He’s still shaking his his sleep saying that he keeps having visions of (Korr) throwing him into a wall.”   Trayvon’s mom, Lateekqua Jackson also said when she arrived at the school her son was already being transported for medical help; “I looked in the ambulance and there’s my son, his face big, mouth bloody.”

Among the charges against Korr are reckless endangerment and misdemeanor neglect of a minor ad felony first and second-degree child abuse.

There are reports that the school didn’t check Korr’s criminal background although agencies that offer tutoring programs like Care.com do require a background check and training. Baltimore County Public Schools requires that all employees adhere to a state mandate of fingerprinting and criminal history background before their first day of employment.  If City Springs Elementary didn’t follow state law, then school officials could be subjected to penalties of violating that mandate.

Even with a criminal background, could it have protected little Trayvon from the brutal treatment of Korr?  A background check only tells you what the past behavior of an employee is…not what they could do in the future.  Even though Korr has been arrested and charged, how can parents feel there’s not another loose cannon roaming the halls and classrooms and could harm your child next time?

What do you think….the school acted swiftly and responsibly, but can schools do more to protect our children?  The cameras told the truth in this case, should all hallways, offices and classrooms be equipped with cameras if it means protecting both students and teachers?