SAN ANTONIO — Many kids enjoy a day off from school, but Michael Rankin's family said the reason he's home is haunting.
"I don't want it to be taken out on my child. I worry about his safety right now," said his mother, Gloria dela Garza-Rankin.
Michael is autistic. His mother said she kept him home after a troublesome restraint at school.
"I was hoping it was from some misconception on his part," she said. "He said it was from the behavioral teacher pushing his head against the wall and make him stand there with his hands over his head."
Texas law requires classrooms with mentally-challenged children to have cameras in them. Garza-Rankin asked to see the video footage of the incident, and she couldn't believe the response she says she received.
"I believe the wording he used was, 'the cameras are running, but they're not recording. And the company we use has been out of business for three months,'" she said.
The camera law that's in place isn't just to protect kids. Experts say it's to protect administrators and educators, too.
"It's a very fine line," said Dr. Frank Emmett of The Ecumenical Center. "What may look abusive may not be. It may simply be a basket hold to hold the child while he or she calms down."
Without the video, it's impossible to know whether a line was crossed in the classroom. In a written statement, the district said the company responsible for operating these cameras failed to activate them. They are now looking at new service providers.
But what makes this family so frustrated is the fact that it's not the first time they've had issues with discipline in the district. Garza-Rankin said her youngest son, who is also autistic, was a victim of harsh punishment in his school a few years ago.
"I witnessed the teacher grab him by the arm and yank him. I did file the process with that. This was prior to there being camera laws," she explained.
Garza-Rankin had hoped the new law would prevent any further issues with questionable punishment in school.
The family doesn't know when, or if, Michael will return to school.
Southwest ISD issued the following statement about the situation:
Southwest ISD takes the safety of their students very seriously and any allegations of this manner are immediately and thoroughly investigated. Through this investigation it was discovered that the cameras in that particular classroom were not operational on the dates of the alleged incidents with the student.
The District has contracted with an outside company to provide cameras in classrooms, along with maintenance and support. When the request for those particular cameras was made in the end of January, they were installed, but without notice to the District, never activated by the company. These were the only cameras not functioning at the time of the request. Once the District became aware that the cameras were not operational, the company was immediately contacted to find out why they had not performed their duties under our contract. As of today, we have received little information and are now exploring moving to a new service provider. We will continue to work diligently to resolve this issue.