DESOTO, Texas — In school, you learn about the importance of listening, which at times, is easier said than done. For four-year-old Jace Morris, listening is sometimes a challenge as he was diagnosed with ADHD.
“He typically has difficulties in the morning,” said Jace’s mother, Alexus Morris.
On the morning of January 10, Alexus saw the value in listening after sending her son to his new school at Cambridge Academy’s DeSoto campus.
“We were receiving calls that morning telling us that our son didn’t have his listening ears on,” said Morris.
By noon that day, the school called again.
“I’m getting a call from my husband saying you have to pick up Jace. He’s hitting and kicking the teacher. I’m like, ‘What,’” said Morris.
She picked up Jace from school and signed an incident form. Just before leaving, Alexus was surprised to hear Jace’s side of the story.
“He says his teacher hit him on the butt,” said Alexus. “I told the owner my son said a teacher hit him. I want to see the footage.”
Alexus recorded the footage and shared it with WFAA.
She said it was nap time, and Jace did not want to sleep. The video shows the teacher grabbing him by the arm. Shortly after, the teacher is seen on video picking Jace up under her arm as she carries him to the office.
There, the struggle continued as Jace’s arm was pulled behind his back. The video shows him being dragged using his blanket. When Jace hit the teacher, he was knocked down.
“Jace is very traumatized. He can tell you exactly what happened from start to finish, but he’s very scared. He act scared when me and dad leave,” said Morris. “When you hear your baby say you took too long to come and get me, it’s like what if something worse happened and I couldn’t have gotten there?”
Cambridge Academy provided a statement regarding the incident. They said they immediately terminated the teacher and have been cooperating with authorities. They also said this was an “isolated occurrence and there is no indication whatsoever that any previous incident like this occurred prior to the January 10, 2024 allegation.
Morris said before enrolling Jace into daycare, she told the school about his diagnosis.
“His teacher was never even aware that he had ADHD,” said Morris. “I was very upfront about that because we are not from this area. We just moved to this area. Everywhere we called, they said they were not equipped for children with ADHD. Now looking back at it, I appreciate the honesty because this was a school that said we can do it.”
Texas Department of Family and Protective Services said the incident is now in the hands of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. The commission said their investigation is ongoing.
“We have been told by a few parties that because he hasn’t sustained any physical, bodily injuries, it is not considered abuse. It’s very heartbreaking to know that someone can put their hands on your child and if they don’t have a broken bone or whips and bruising, you don’t really have anything,” said Morris.
DeSoto Police said they responded to the incident as well. They said they interviewed all parties involved. They determined no offense occurred and no criminal charges were filed.
Two days after the incident, DeSoto Police said they assigned the case to a Juvenile Crimes detective and met with Morris days later. Police said the detective told the family they "could not file a county-level injury to a child or assault case because there was no proof that the child sustained an injury."
Morris has since pulled her son out of daycare.
“Do I trust my son in any other daycare? Absolutely not,” she said. “Others should be held accountable. As teachers, you are mandated to report things that you see."
Whether the incident is determined to be abuse or not, Morris is glad she listened.
“I would just encourage parents to listen to their child. Had I not listened to my child that day, we would not have been here, or I would have never known that he was actually mistreated that way,” she said.