4 staff leave Indianapolis-area school where kid ate vomit

BROWNSBURG, Ind. (AP) — Four staff members at a suburban Indianapolis school have been fired or have submitted their resignations after a 7-year-old special education student was told to eat his own vomit.

The board of the Brownsburg Community School Corp. approved the actions Monday night for the staff at Brown Elementary School.

They are among five staff members the Hendricks County Prosecutor’s Office has charged with neglect or failure to report neglect after the February incident. The fifth, a behavioral technician, works for an outside agency and cannot be disciplined by the school district.

A sixth staffer who does not face charges but who the school district said also did not report the incident, also has submitted a letter of resignation. That letter was not received in time to be acted upon during Monday’s meeting and will be discussed at a June board meeting.

A teacher and an instructional aide at the school were charged with neglect. They as well as a second teacher, a second aide and the behavioral technician were charged with failure to report the incident.

The teacher charged with neglect told the student during lunch that if he vomited, he would need to eat whatever he threw up, Brownsburg police said. The child vomited on a tray provided by the second teacher, and the aide charged with neglect then gave the child a spoon, police said.

The boy ate some of the vomit, then used paper towels to clean up what remained, police said.

The Brownsburg Community School Corp. said it learned of the incident on April 12 and removed the five staffers who have been charged from contact with students.

Superintendent Jim Snapp said in a statement at the time, “We are deeply saddened by the actions of these staff members and will work in conjunction with our local law enforcement as they move forward with possible criminal charges.”