Student Says He Was Beaten Up By His Principal

Monica Balderrama-KFOX News Reporter


A high school freshman said he was beaten up by his principal and two security guards on Thursday.

His parents feel the staff at the school including the principal are not property trained to handle mentally challenged students.

Isaac Kinsford's eyes are half-closed and blood shot. Kinsford, 15, is a special education student at Santa Teresa High School.

His older brother, Gabriel Aragon, said the injuries happened after an incident at Santa Teresa High School where the principal along with two security guards improperly restrained Isaac allegedly by choking him.

"Nobody should do this to a special ed student, nobody, to anybody at all. This shouldn't happen to anybody," said Aragon.

Kinsford was taken to Providence Memorial's emergency room complaining about pains in his neck, eyes and forearm. Medical documents from Providence provided by the family confirm Kinsford is bleeding from his eyes and has a bruise on his forearm. After a few more checkups, a doctor at Santa Teresa Medical Care Center referred him to an eye specialist.

"He had to be restrained for a long time or choking like he said he was choking, that's why he has the blood in his eyes," said Luz Kinsford, the victim's mother.

KFOX obtained an e-mail from the principal to the parents explaining the incident and the actions he took.

Part of the e-mail reads:
Isaac stormed around slamming doors and turning on every computer that he could get his hands on. Isaac started pushing chairs at me and continued to scream at me to leave. After several attempts to redirect Isaac by giving him choices, I restrained him with the assistance of Mr. Tellez and Mr. Landeros. I placed a 1/2 nelson on Isaac to keep him from hitting anyone or hurting himself or anyone else. Mr. Tellez was holding one arm and Mr. Landeros the other. After about 1 to 2 minutes of restraining Isaac and talking to him he ceased struggling.

Aragon said he feels his brother doesn't get treated like a special needs student.

"That's another thing the school needs to change to train their employees to deal with students like this," said Aragon.

The Kinsford's filed a report with Dona Ana Sheriff's Office.

The Gadsden Independent School District released an official statement on this incident saying they're investigating.

GISD also said it takes a proactive stance to train staff to act appropriately in any crisis situation.

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