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Parent alleges repeated restraint and unreported incidents at New Washington Elementary
Summary
At the Feb. 11 Greater Clark County Schools board meeting a parent, Zach Silverstein, alleged his children were physically restrained by staff and a janitor and that required reports to law enforcement under Indiana law were not filed; the board took no formal action during the meeting.
Zach Silverstein, a parent who said he recently withdrew his children from New Washington Elementary, told the Greater Clark County Schools Board of Trustees on Feb. 11 that school staff repeatedly used seclusion and that a janitor physically touched his children several times.
Silverstein said the principal at New Washington Elementary punished his son for a text message that occurred off campus and that both principals at the school had used seclusion “as a way to punish my child.” He alleged a janitor “used his hands and put his hands on my children three different times,” describing one incident in which the janitor “squeezed my son’s shoulders” in the lunchroom and separate incidents in which the janitor grabbed his daughter twice and “forced her where she could not lower her hands.”
Silverstein also said he reported the incidents to the principal during the 2023 and 2024 school years and that the family believes required reports to police under Indiana law were not filed. “I think that they truthfully should have been reported to the police regarding the aspect of restraint according to Indiana law,” he said.
The allegations were made during the meeting’s public-comment portion. The board did not announce an investigation or other immediate action during the meeting; after Silverstein finished, trustees moved on to the next agenda item.
Why this matters: Silverstein’s comments raise two separate issues with different potential responses — allegations of inappropriate physical contact by a noninstructional employee, and whether mandated reporting or other legal obligations were met. The parent said those events occurred during the 2023 and 2024 school years and that he withdrew his children “in the past couple weeks.”
The board meeting transcript records the parent’s statements but does not include any formal response, a staff report, or an announced next step from trustees at that session. The board’s public-record or human-resources offices would be the next likely sources for any records of investigations or reports referenced in Silverstein’s remarks; none were presented at the Feb. 11 meeting.
