In what might be the most disturbing display of synchronized apathy in Lubbock county this year, former Frenship special education aide T’nae Harrell was arrested for voyeurism. According to police, Harrell decided it was a great idea to lift up a 7-year-old student’s shirt in the middle of class, turn her toward another staff member, and announce that the child’s breasts were “perky” and “round like a porn star.” As if that’s not sickening enough, four other “professionals” were in the room when this happened. Their immediate reaction to a child being sexually degraded on classroom security footage? Absolutely nothing.
Texas is a mandatory reporting state, meaning professionals have 24 hours to report suspected child abuse. At Legacy Elementary, however, the adults apparently operate on a strictly “whenever we get around to it” timeline. The incident happened on a Wednesday. It took until the following Monday for one of the substitute teachers to finally crack and tell the administration. What were the lead special education teacher and the private-duty nurse doing for 120 hours? Waiting to see if it would blow over? Or maybe they just didn’t want to ruin their weekend vibes by reporting a literal crime.
Of course, the warning signs were flashing like a West Texas dust storm warning well before this. Another parent had already complained to the principal that her nonverbal daughter’s feeding tube was mysteriously yanked out in that very same classroom. The principal’s stellar response? “Let’s just give her a chance, give her a few weeks to get used to everything.” Because nothing screams educational excellence quite like treating vulnerable special-needs kids as crash test dummies for unqualified staff.
And let’s talk about accountability. The lead teacher who completely failed to report the voyeurism incident? Frenship hit her with the ultimate punishment: placing her on leave… right after she had already submitted her resignation. Really bringing the hammer down there, guys. Naturally, the district rolled out the tired old PR boilerplate, assuring everyone that “creating a safe learning environment is a top priority.” Right. Top priority, assuming the safety concern doesn’t happen on a Wednesday and interrupt everyone’s weekend plans.
If it takes a room full of adults five days to report an aide comparing a second-grader to a porn star, how long does it take Frenship ISD to report something they actually care about, like the cafeteria running out of square pizza?
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