Two nearly identical lawsuits have been filed against the Alamance-Burlington school board and a former Exceptional Children’s teacher at Andrews Elementary School who recently pleaded guilty to assaulting two disabled students.
The former teacher, Dorothy Jessica (“Jessica”) Edwards, 28, white, female, of 185 Granite Mill Drive in Graham, had been charged with four counts of misdemeanor assault on an individual with disabilities in November 2024. She pleaded guilty to all four charges on May 5 of this year.
The attorney for the victims is seeking more than $25,000 in compensatory and punitive damages under each of three alleged claims for relief, including: violations of the victims’ rights, under the state Constitution, to a “safe, appropriate, and free public education” by both defendants; negligence by Edwards; and intentional torts (or deliberate acts known to cause injury or emotional distress) by the former teacher.
The two separate lawsuits that have been filed in Alamance County superior court identify the minor plaintiffs as: Kashae Emerson, “an infant and incompetent minor citizen”; and Eliel Alas-Parga, who is also described as “an infant and incompetent minor citizen.” Both minor plaintiffs had been enrolled at Andrews Elementary School and were students in Edwards’ class during the 2023-24 and 2024-25 school years, according to the court files.
The lawsuits describe both Emerson and Alas-Parga as “nonverbal” and having “significant intellectual disabilities.”
The lawsuit filed on Emerson’s behalf alleges that she returned home from school on Monday, February 12, 2024 with a “significant forehead laceration” and a “student accident report” that had been completed by Edwards. Emerson’s lawsuit alleges that her injuries were “caused by the negligent, grossly negligent, reckless, and intentional harmful physical behavior” by Edwards. The suit further asserts that the school board was informed of those injuries but “failed to investigate” the matter in any meaningful way, or to discipline or increase supervision of Edwards.
One victim treated for head wound, the other had ‘red marks’ on his back and thighs
According to Emerson’s suit, Edwards allegedly “violently and aggressively shoved” her to the ground on Thursday, October 3, 2024. Her mother picked her up from school and took her to the emergency room at a local hospital to be treated for a “bleeding head wound,” the complaint states.
Edwards was ultimately arrested on Monday, November 11, 2024 for biting a student while at work, according to the lawsuits.
Emerson has since suffered continuing behavioral and emotional problems at home and school, as well as “severe, painful, and permanent injuries,” along with emotional distress as a result of the alleged “wanton negligence, recklessness, and intentionality of” both Edwards and the school board, her suit asserts.
Meanwhile, the lawsuit that has been filed on behalf of the other minor plaintiff, Alas-Parga, doesn’t give specific dates on which he was allegedly injured by Edwards.
Rather, the complaint states, “At several times during the 2023-24 and 2024-25 school years, [Alas-Parga] returned home from school with red marks on his thighs and back,” the suit alleges, adding that his parent believed he had injured himself playing at school.
However, in November or December 2024, Alas-Pargas’ parent received a letter in which Edwards admitted harming the child – including by “pushing, striking, biting, or otherwise injuring” Alas-Parga, the complaint states.
Both suits assert that the school board either knew, or should have known, by conducting an investigation, reviewing video footage, and/or other means to ensure the safety of its students, that Edwards had “engaged in a pattern of misconduct toward students…well before that situation came to light” but ultimately failed to take action, which was an alleged “grossly negligent, willful, wanton” violation of the plaintiffs’ rights under the N.C. Constitution.
Like the suit that has been filed on behalf of the other minor plaintiff, Emerson, the lawsuit filed for Alas-Pargas asserts that he has since suffered “serious, painful, and permanent personal injuries and emotional injuries” as a result of Edwards’ actions.
Both of the minor plaintiffs are being represented for their suits against Edwards and the school board by attorney Jon Ward of the Tatum & Atkinson law firm in Greensboro.
Jacob B. Daniel, an attorney who lives in Orange County, has been appointed as a guardian ad litem to appear in court on the minor plaintiffs’ behalf, according to the court files.
Edwards given split sentence
At the conclusion of a hearing in district court in May, Alamance County chief district court Kathryn (“Katie”) Overby issued an intermediate split sentence requiring Edwards to serve 15 days in the Alamance County jail and 24 months of probation. Edwards had no prior criminal convictions, according to her sentencing order.
Edwards had been employed with ABSS as an Exceptional Children’s teacher since August 2020, based on information that the school system furnished in response to an earlier public records request from The Alamance News.
Though she had later been given a four-year teaching contract that was scheduled to run through 2027, Edwards resigned from ABSS, effective December 9, 2024, school officials confirmed for the newspaper this spring.
Edwards is not currently licensed to teach in North Carolina. The terms of her sentence require her to complete two years’ probation before she’ll be eligible to reapply for a state teaching license.
In addition to her split sentence, Overby also ordered Edwards to read The Reason I Jump by Naoki Higashida and provide a one-page summary to her probation officer, according to the sentencing order that Overby entered in May.
Both lawsuits were filed in Alamance County superior court late last month.
Neither the school board nor Edwards had filed a response to either lawsuit by press time Wednesday.
