The parents of an elementary school student say they found bruises covering their daughter’s arms when she came home from school crying in early October. As she showed her father, he also saw “finger marks” and scratches, according to a new lawsuit.

“They hurt me,” Paisley Dohse told her parents, explaining she had been held down, according to the lawsuit filed April 2 in federal court in Houston, Texas.

Kimberly Pittard and Christopher Dohse said they believe the bruises they noticed Oct. 6, and again on Oct. 13 — when their daughter also had deep scratches resulting in scabs — came from staff at Oakland Elementary School in Fort Bend County.

“What really upsets me more so than anything is that we asked about the bruises numerous times,” Pittard told McClatchy News. “We were always shifted that it was not the time or place to talk about when that happened, where that happened, that they investigated it and looked into it and found nothing wrong.”

Pittard and Dohse, her husband, are represented by attorney Martin Jay Cirkiel of Cirkiel Law Group, which provided photos to McClatchy News showing bruises and scratches on Paisley.

Throughout the fall 2023 semester, the lawsuit says staff “unnecessarily physically restrained” Paisley, who was 7 years old and diagnosed with autism, a speech impairment, anxiety and “related behavioral issues.”

Describing methods that “bordered on torture,” the suit says staff held a pillow over Paisley’s face, forced her to lie on the floor with her hands behind her back and made her stay still inside a square on the floor and punished her if she didn’t.

She once was locked in a storage closet as punishment, according to the lawsuit, which says school district staff had also locked her inside a police car to “scare the child straight.”

Around the time, Paisley was having “increased emotional reactions and worsening behavioral reactions” due to bullying from fellow classmates, resulting in staff increasingly restraining her, the lawsuit says. On one occasion, a classmate had punched Paisley, according to Pittard.

Though the school had created a behavioral plan for Paisley, staff never addressed the bullying, and instead hurt her while restraining her, according to the lawsuit.

Pittard and Dohse are suing the Fort Bend Independent School District on multiple causes of action, including for violations of their daughter’s constitutional rights and violating the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Fort Bend ISD, however, said in a statement to McClatchy News that “the allegations made were found to be unsubstantiated.”

Pittard, who is a contracted social worker, told McClatchy News she has high-functioning autism and anxiety and recalled her own struggles growing up.

“When I saw my daughter coming home feeling lower than I felt, I was at a loss for words … I said I don’t care what amount of money it costs to fight for our daughter, we need to fight to lobby for change,” Pittard said.

School district’s response

The Fort Bend ISD told McClatchy News in a statement that privacy laws limit the district’s ability to disclose “important details.”

“In instances like this, the school district wishes to share details that would provide clarity, but unfortunately, we cannot,” the district said. “Please know we investigated allegations in this case fully and impartially.”

The Fort Bend ISD Police Department and the district’s human resources teams reviewed “video footage and evidence, statements from all pertinent staff members, date and time verifications plus other ascertainable information,” according to the district.

Along with not being able to verify any of the accusations, the district said, “an investigation by Child Protective Services also ruled out any findings of abuse or neglect by district staff.”

Texas Department of Family and Protective Services spokesperson Melissa Lanford confirmed to McClatchy News that CPS “thoroughly investigated the family’s allegations.”

The department “cannot discuss specific details of investigations” because of confidentiality laws, Lanford said.

“At the conclusion of our investigation, CPS sent letters of our findings to the parents and Oakland Elementary school,” Lanford said.

McClatchy News has not viewed the letter as of April 5 after requesting a copy of it from Pittard and Dohse’s legal counsel on April 4.

‘Don’t let them kill me’

Pittard and Dohse have since pulled Paisley out of school and the district is providing her with “Home School Services,” according to the lawsuit.

Whenever the family drives past the school with Paisley in the car, she is terrified, the suit says.

“Please don’t let them hurt me mom please don’t let them hurt me,” Paisley has said, according to the lawsuit.

Now she occasionally has nightmares, Pittard told McClatchy News.

“I have a little girl who used to sleep in her bed that won’t leave our bedroom,” Pittard said.

She said Paisley wakes up in the middle of the night, saying “please don’t let them hurt me, don’t let them kill me.”

Pittard is unable to enroll Paisley in another school until the lawsuit is resolved, she explained.

She said the school’s director of special education once suggested Paisley be transferred to an alternative school in a Behavior Support Services setting.

“We said, no, we’re not being forced to move our child,” Pittard said.

The lawsuit seeks an unspecified amount in damages, including for “loss of equal access to educational opportunities,” physical pain, medical expenses, mental anguish and more.

Pittard said Paisley, who is very smart and loves to help others, has one specific wish.

“Mommy,” she recalls her saying, “I don’t want anybody to feel like this.”

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