Horry Schools aide ‘assaulted’ nonverbal student, suit says. Special ed complaints rising

A nonverbal middle school student was so distressed by the actions of an Horry County Schools aide that she was forced to switch to homeschooling, according to the latest lawsuit filed against the district.

It’s the 12th lawsuit filed against HCS since 2018 alleging damages suffered by a student receiving special education services, according to a review of online court records.

The North Myrtle Beach Middle School aide “assaulted” the 15-year-old in February by placing some type of rope “with an unknown ointment” on the girl’s mouth and having her wear it the whole day, the complaint states.

The rope was supposedly an attempt to prevent the student, who has autism and learning disabilities, from licking her top lip, which she often did as a result of weather changes, according to the suit.

The district was negligent in failing to train or supervise the aide, and no mandatory reporters acted to report or prevent the abuse, the complaint states. The girl’s mother, who filed the lawsuit, lost trust in the district and was forced to quit her job to home-school her daughter, she alleges.

HCS declined to comment on the pending litigation, according to district spokeswoman Lisa Bourcier, who did confirm that the aide named in the lawsuit no longer works for the district.

Other special education complaints

The lawsuit comes just about a week after an Ocean Bay Elementary School special education teacher was arrested on charges related to alleged abuse and neglect of students. The principal there was also charged with failure to properly report the alleged abuse.

None of the families involved in those incidents appear to have filed lawsuits yet, but The Sun News was able to identify 11 other suits filed since 2018 against HCS involving plaintiffs receiving special education services. Four others allege abuse by a staff member, including a complaint filed in 2020 alleging a special education teacher cut a student’s hair in class against his will.

Another five of the suits describe bullying by other students with the district failing to properly supervise their children, including an Aynor Middle School student with autism who committed suicide as a result.

Most of the lawsuits remain pending, though the district has agreed to pay $96,215 in settlements to four of the plaintiffs, according to a review of court records and insurance reserve fund payments. Those settlements all specifically released HCS from any admission of fault.