Tina Washington's teenage son has Asperger's syndrome.  On April 20, Washington reports that he came home from Paris High School and told her, "I got roped today."  The bullying he experienced and the lack of response from adminstrators at the Texas school make a frightening and infuriating story:

According to Washington, and paperwork related to the April 20 incident, her son was at school when he and three other students were together in a green house watering plants. While in the green house, a male student used a rope to hoist Washington’s son up and restrain him, and hit his hands with an object to the point of them bleeding, while he attempted to break loose. A female student was reportedly laughing along with the accused male student during the incident, and filmed the event on her cell phone.

At some point, Washington’s son reportedly asked when he would be set free, and the alleged aggressor purportedly told him he would stop once the plants were watered. Another female student was also present, but according to witness statements did not participate in the roping, and immediately turned off the sprinkler upon hearing the male student’s statement about stopping when the plants were watered. Afterward, the female student who had filmed the evidence of what happened on her cell phone, reportedly showed it to a teacher, whom Washington refers to as Mr. Merritt, and he erased the footage.

According to Washington, her son was ignored when he reported the incident to administrators.  When she contacted assistant principal Brock Blassingame, he told her it was "horseplay" and he would handle it.  No action, however, was taken against the student who bound and beat her son until she insisted on making a formal complaint.  Apparently, neither the student who recorded and laughed about the abuse nor the teacher who destroyed the recording have suffered any sort of consequences from their actions.

Washington is concerned about her son's safety at the school and feels that the measures offered (putting her son in a group for students with behavioral probems and allowing to leave classes early to avoid bullies) are inadequate.

I can find no public comment on the case from anyone from either the school or the district.

You can reach Paris High School here:  903-737-7400

Principal Gary Preston (who reportedly initially refused to meet with Washington) gpreston@parisisd.net

Assistant Principal Brock Blassingame (who apparently thinks tying up a kid with autism and beating him until his hands bleed is "simple horseplay")     bblassingame@parisisd.net

Ty Merritt (the only "Mr. Merritt" at Paris High School, presumably the teacher who erased the recording) mmerritt@parisisd.net

Paul Trull, Superintendent of Paris Independent School District  (903)737-7473 ptrull@parisisd.net 

Dave Eisele,  School Board President   903-785-4239 dte@parisorthopedic.com