INDIANAPOLIS -- The Marion County Sheriff's Office has recommended that lawmakers consider funding a new position to oversee student safety at Marion County schools following alleged abuse at an IPS school where a teacher reportedly recorded video of a student attacking a classmate.
Sheriff Kerry Forestal said on Friday that the Indiana General Assembly should consider funding and creating a "safe schools czar" to prevent similar incidents from taking place in the future. MCSO said IPS "knew about the situation at School 87 but did not make an arrest and failed to refer the issue to the Marion County Prosecutor."
The family of a special needs 7-year-old student filed a civil lawsuit against Indianapolis Public Schools, the district, the teacher and administrators. The student attended George Washington Carver Montessori IPS School 87. FOX59/CBS4 broke the story on Wednesday.
The lawsuit states that the woman's special needs son was scared of attending class for weeks as he told his mother that his teacher was allegedly encouraging students to beat him up.
“There are a dozen independent school police agencies in Marion County that lack coordinated policies, cohesive training, or comprehensive oversight," said Forestal. "The General Assembly allowed schools to form their own police agencies. Now, they need to come back and incorporate a level of accountability that is sorely missing. This type of review must happen before a tragedy occurs, not after."
The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department has also confirmed that detectives have opened an investigation into the incident.
IPS has released the following statement in response to the recorded video:
"IPS does not tolerate the type of behavior alleged in the complaint and takes reports of potential abuse and neglect seriously. When IPS learned of the teacher’s conduct, the Department of Child Services (DCS) was immediately notified, and the teacher was removed from the classroom and suspended. The teacher had no further contact with students and is no longer employed by IPS."