BROWNSBURG, Ind. — Attorneys on behalf of the family of the special education student who was told to eat his on vomit at a Brownsburg elementary school are planning to sue Brownsburg Community Schools.
The family hired attorney Catherine Michael to seek justice for their 7-year-old student, who Michael said is challenged by autism, memory issues and communication.
The alleged incident happened in Feb. 16 with a student in the Life Skills program at Brown Elementary, located at 310 Stadium Dr., near South Odell Street — but the incident wasn't reported to the principal until 56 days later.
According to a tort claim, the family started seeing changes in their son's behavior shortly after he was moved into the Life Skills Classroom in September 2022. The family claims he showed signs of anxiety, depression and regression of skills. By January 2023, the 7-year-old showed increasing anxiety about going to school and showed strange behaviors toward food.
During meeting with school staff, the tort claim states the family was reassured the 7-year-old was doing well.
Then, around April 14, they received a call from the principal of Brown Elementary to request a meeting.
It was at that meeting that one of the parents of the 7-year-old was informed there was a video showing her child being forced to eat his vomit.
According to the claim, the Feb. 16 video showed the child choking on his food and projectile vomiting on a table next to teacher Sara Seymour. The tort claim states Seymour appears to be smiling and laughing.
Debra Kanipe, an instructional aide, allegedly gave the child a spoon to scoop up his vomit. The child can then be seen eating several bites of vomit and crying.
The tort claim states the family was not aware that a press release from the district had already been issued and information on the incident was being reported publicly, less than an hour after they learned of the incident.
According to the tort claim, attorneys, on behalf of the family, will be seeking damages for "gross negligence and willful misconduct, personal injury, physical distress, financial injury and negligent inflection on behalf of the student and his parent."
The tort claim alleges that the special education student will need extensive therapy, an education at a private school, and medical and psychological care for an extended period of time due to his multiple disabilities and language impairments.
The incident
On the afternoon of Feb. 16, in the cafeteria of Brown Elementary, 63-year-old Debra Kanipe, an instructional aide, noticed a 7-year-old student had food in his mouth and looked like he was going to vomit.
According to court documents, Kanipe asked 27-year-old teacher Sara Seymour to get a napkin.
That's when Seymour allegedly told Kanipe "if Victim 1 (the student) throws up, that Victim 1 (student) was going to eat it."
A detective asked Kanipe if Seymour was frustrated at the child. Kanipe replied, "Sara Seymour was more trying to prove a point with Victim 1."
Kanipe said she's worked in special needs/life skills for 27 years.
Seymour was a four-year special needs/life skills teacher at Brown Elementary School. She allegedly told a detective their policy is that they "encourage the child to keep eating." Seymour also "advised if a child spits out food and it still looks like formed food, she would encourage them to still eat it, but not vomit."
Police said another teacher, 48-year-old Julie Taylor, provided a tray for the boy to throw up on. The child later threw up on the tray.
As Kanipe and Seymour stood over the child, Kanipe reportedly handed the child a spoon and he began "eating his own vomit all while crying and looking at both Kanipe and Sara Seymour."
Police said Seymour and Kanipe stood on each side of the boy as he ate a portion of his vomit, while 38-year-old Kristen Mitchell, an instructional aide, and 24-year-old Meghan King, a behavioral technician at K1ds Count Therapy, watched the incident and did nothing about it.
Mitchell said Seymour "was laughing about what happened later in the day."
Mitchell, who had been at the school since 2021, confronted Seymour, but allegedly never reported the incident to DCS.
When detectives asked why Seymour appeared to be smiling during the incident, most notably "while watching Victim 1 spoon vomit into his mouth," Seymour said it was her "behavioral response when nervous."
Aftermath for those involved
The Brownsburg school board voted to cut ties with employees accused in the incident.
Initially, Brownsburg Schools put five staff members on leave. Two staff members (teacher Sara Seymour and instructional aide Debra Kanipe) were facing termination.
Then, Brownsburg police charged five people in connection to the incident, four of whom were Brownsburg Schools staff members and one of whom was an outside contractor.
Seymour and Kanipe, who both face felony charges, were fired. Brownsburg Schools said another instructional aide was fired. Two teachers who were facing termination resigned from their positions.
Brownsburg Schools confirmed the fifth staff member, who was placed on leave and was not charged by police, submitted her resignation, which will be official at the June board meeting.
"We have to be able to trust you," a mother told the board at a meeting Monday night.
Her child, like the children of many parents in the room Monday, has special needs. Many can't speak, so their parents spoke for them.
"The community is here to hold your feet to the fire," Laura McDaniel told the board.
Parent after parent told the board their trust had been shattered after an alleged incident in February at Brown Elementary. A teacher and her aide are accused of making a 7-year-old special needs student eat his own vomit. Police say three other staff members watched but didn't stop it or report it to anyone.
The teacher, 27-year-old Sara Seymour, and aide, 63-year-old Debra Kanipe, are charged with neglect of a dependent and failure to report. Three others, who police say saw what happened, are charged with failure to report.
"How does something like that happen, and are you sure, are you sure you've addressed it? And when you say that you're sure, are you sure enough to let my 6-year-old little boy walk in there, knowing that he can never tell you if you're wrong?" Blaire Evans asked the board.
According to the school superintendent Jim Snapp, the school's principal found out about the alleged incident last month while talking to a teacher about a different matter and reported it to the Department of Child Services. Then, Brownsburg police got involved. The delay has prompted parents to call for cameras in the classroom.
"If we don't have cameras for these children who cannot advocate for themselves, how can you say you create a safe environment for him, for any child like him?" asked mom Chelsea Zuleva.
Others called for a top-to-bottom investigation of the school and its policies.
"You think that's the only thing that's happened? I can guarantee you it's not. I guarantee you it's not," a woman who has a grandson in the special needs program told the board. "It's broken. The whole thing's broken for these kids. They can't talk. They can't tell someone if they're being abused, if they're being mistreated. They can't."
The superintendent and board apologized to parents, but families say they need better resources and more special education teachers in the district.
"This is your inflection point, and I implore you to use it," Laura McDaniel said.