Richmond Public Schools’ internal investigators found no evidence that an instructional assistant at Fairfield Court Elementary School bit the hand of a student while escorting her and another child back into the building in April, in an incident that received widespread attention.

Instead, security cameras showed the instructional assistant wiping an area of her face with the hand that was holding the student’s hand, as both of the aide’s hands were used to hold the two kids, investigators said, adding that it was hot outside and the aide was sweating.

Additionally, “the accused instructional assistant has no teeth,” they wrote.

The investigation occurred after a video circulated online showing the employee with the students walking around the school’s marquee. 

When the employee begins to walk back into the school building, one of the children begins to cry. In the online video angle, it appears the employee brings the child’s hand up to their mouth. The child’s cries intensify as the employee and two children enter the building. 

The aide could not be reached for comment by The Richmonder, which is choosing to withhold their name to protect their privacy. Investigators wrote that the aide has since retired from RPS at the end of the last school year.

The video quickly went viral, garnering news reports and thousands of reactions, including from Superintendent Jason Kamras, who condemned the alleged act.

“I am aware of a disturbing video circulating on social media that shows an RPS employee apparently biting a child in their care,” he wrote in April. “I am absolutely horrified by this, as superintendent and as a parent.”

Investigators later reviewed RPS surveillance footage of the incident and said that it did not show a reaction from the child that would be consistent with someone receiving a bite on the hand. 

Investigators’ final recommendations following the review were “on hold,” but the reason why was redacted in documents provided to The Richmonder under the Freedom of Information Act.

What happened

The aide and students were playing a game of cornhole which was located adjacent to the school’s marquee, seen in both the surveillance footage and the uploaded video.

“This was a source of contention on social media, as the uploaded video appeared to conceal the activity going on behind the sign, leading to speculative conclusions of nefarious intent,” investigators wrote.

Investigators interviewed the poster of the video, who believed that the “‘unknown’ activity going on behind the sign” led the poster to believe the aide bit the student.

In the video, before taking the student into the building, the aide was met at the entrance of the building by another employee who the poster believed was questioning the aide’s actions, leading the poster to publish the video. That employee, another instructional assistant at the school, told investigators that the aide in question was simply telling the assistant that they were taking the kids into the building. 

The other assistant said “that the student in question did not want to go back in the building and that is why she was acting out,” investigators noted.

An activity truck was also located outside the school, and the owner of the truck also confirmed to investigators that the aide’s supervision seemed appropriate and not aggressive or questionable. The owner further confirmed that the student became upset when the aide took them away from the activity truck.

Principal Wright said that the aide in question “has a stellar reputation working with the student, noting the student’s attachment” to the aide. Wright added that the aide has not had any infractions related to the child or any infractions in the aide’s history with RPS. Another support teacher within the school said the student seeks out the aid “when she needs support.”

Mother’s response

The video also spurred a reaction from the student’s mother, who took to Facebook Live to share that her daughter has autism and is nonverbal. The Live video has since been taken down.

“I was upset, obviously, at first, seeing that my daughter could have been abused on Facebook,” said Aspen Carter in an interview with The Richmonder. 

Investigators wrote that the mother did not see anything wrong with her daughter the day of the incident, and told the school’s principal, Angela Wright, that the child did not have any bite marks.  

The mother “noted she did not want to ‘gaslight’ the investigation by alleging anything different than what she originally concluded in her observation of her daughter,” investigators wrote.

Carter confirmed that she initially said there were no bite marks on her daughter, but she saw scratches instead, which she said she took photos of.

“It was on the same arm that was lifted up, so I’m not sure if maybe she scratched herself or if it was a bite,” she said. 

After the incident, Carter said she spoke with school administrators, filed a report with the Richmond Police Department, spoke with officials from Child Protective Services and got in touch with Kamras. Kamras gave her his personal number, she said, and offered to put Carter’s daughter in a different school. 

“I tried to call him back multiple times, left text messages – he never responded to me,” she said.

In a statement to The Richmonder, Kamras said, "per my commitment, I am happy to enroll Ms. Carter's student at a school of her choosing."

She said that she also requested the surveillance footage to see herself, but hasn’t heard back from anyone of the agencies mentioned.

“I’m not getting answers that I need,” she said.

She took her child out of the school before the start of this school year, telling The Richmonder that she will be in an applied behavior analysis therapy program for children with autism at a clinic starting next month. 

When asked about her daughter’s relationship with the aide as mentioned by Principal Wright, Carter said the relationship was good when her daughter first joined the school in 2024. But she added that her daughter struggles with transition, and having an aide that goes from taking care of one child to two can be difficult for her daughter. 

“I’m not saying that they didn’t have a good relationship from the beginning, I just don’t know what goes on in the school unless someone tells me exactly what’s going on,” she said.

Carter said she is still searching for answers and is concerned for students in the school who can’t speak up for themselves. 

“I don’t know exactly what happened. I only know what it looks like and all I know is that I can’t get access to the information that I asked for,” she said. “And for those reasons I don’t feel my daughter is safe in their school because they’re not being transparent with me.”

Contact Reporter Victoria A. Ifatusin at vifatusin@richmonder.org