School dismissal is usually a loud kind of ending, with buses and the shuffle of children moving from one part of the day to another. At Dr. Claude G. Perkins Elementary, that transition is under investigation after a 65-year-old specialized programs teacher assistant, Lisa Harris, was arrested following an incident reported on Monday, April 27.
The district’s police department took her into custody on suspicion of battery and child abuse. According to an arrest report cited by investigators, the case centers on the dismissal of special education students.
Officers reviewed witness statements and surveillance video as part of their inquiry. The footage described by the police shows Harris leaning toward a student and reaching under the child’s arm.
The report states the student immediately reacted in a way consistent with pain. The child is believed to be nonverbal and has Down syndrome.
Those details, laid out in clinical language, are what turned a routine school dismissal into a criminal investigation.
Harris has worked for the district since 2000 and is on unpaid leave. Booked on a $7,000 bond, she appeared in court yesterday morning and has to return to court on May 28.
The case now moves from the school to the courtroom, where video becomes evidence and brief moments become long arguments.
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