Texas teacher accused of throwing student against wall still employed with district

ROUND ROCK, Texas – A Round Rock ISD teen who was thrown against a wall at school by an administrator has some asking why the school is the only one being blamed.

A disturbing situation that happened at GOALS Learning Center on April 29. Quintin Proctor, 13-years-old at the time, was caught on security camera footage being grabbed and thrown back into a room by the former vice principal. This was after Quintin was removed from his classroom for being defiant towards his two female teachers resulting in him being placed in a secluded room to calm down.

He was then pinned to the ground for at least 4 minutes by staff for his reaction after being thrown.

“There are a lot of things that could be said on both sides, but in the end, the teachers are wrong,” Quintin told FOX 7 Austin Monday.

RELATED STORY: Video: Texas teacher throws student against wall; officials conclude ‘abuse and neglect did not occur’

Early Tuesday morning on the Todd and Don Show on KLBJ, the hosts explained Quintin’s behavior was out of line and could be the result of his parents’ “horrible mistakes in life.” The hosts also added that Quintin needs the “direction of man” and his mother should learn to control her son’s behavior.

Quintin’s mom, Tatiana Alfano, actually called in to explain herself.

“Are you advocating that it’s okay to slam children into walls?” Alfano asked the radio.

“No, I’m not advocating for that at all. I am advocating for you to get control of your child and help those teachers and administrators better control your child,” said Todd Jeffries, radio host.

Guy Stephens is the founder of Alliance Against Seclusion and Restraint. An organization he started after his son experienced a similar situation to Quintin in Maryland. Stephens believes the administrator is all to blame.

“You see comments like, ‘well, this child shouldn’t be in school, the parents should be homeschooling them, they deserve this.’ Where else do we look at victims of crime and say that they deserve it? I just don’t think it’s a reasonable thing to do,” he said.

Stephens now spends full-time raising awareness on the dangers of restraining and secluding children and helping families like Quintins in a fight for change and accountability.

“When [the administrator] threw that young man into that room, the young man, of course, got up. He was in a fight or flight response. That’s a response that your body goes into. It’s a survival mode. We’re biologically wired to survive. In many ways it could have been much worse, but, clearly, this shouldn’t have happened,” said Stephens.

Stephens says restraint should always be a school’s last resort. He says in this situation specifically, the staff should have been thinking of ways of how to better understand Quintin and his needs to escalate the situation. A crisis situation like the one that unfolded should always be avoided. 

At this moment, Alfano says she has not filed a lawsuit against RRISD. She says the only reason she shared the video at this moment was to spark change and district accountability.

“I don’t understand how we are holding a special education student to such a higher standard than what we want to hold our professionals. The only thing that I have repeatedly said is a Quintin deserves justice and school policies and legislation needs a reformation that students need to be safe in their schools. That’s been my main goal,” said Alfano.

The Department of Family and Protective Services reviewed the case and ruled abuse did not occur.

The Texas Education Agency is still investigating the administrator involved.