Mother of student who fell from ceiling says school employees did everything they are trained to do

By Beau Bowman

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    DES MOINES, Iowa (KCCI) — The mother of a Des Moines 10-year-old says school staff did what exactly what they were trained to do after her son climbed a desk and a cabinet before falling from a classroom ceiling.

“When I got there, I asked ‘is he OK?’ And they were like ‘we don’t know,'” she said in an interview with KCCI under the condition of anonymity.

This student is expected to be OK, walking away with only bumps and bruises.

But in the aftermath, his parents and school staff have been at the center of swirling rumors of wild misbehavior and neglectful teachers.

“[The staff] really did do the best that they could,” his mother said.

She says her son has Down syndrome, and his regular teacher aide was out on Tuesday.

Her son sometimes responds poorly to new people, and was having a difficult afternoon.

“He just kind of went into fight or flight, climbed up on a desk then up on a cabinet,” she said.

Des Moines Public Schools says, in general, teachers do not touch students, but staff members are trained in crisis prevention, which can involve physical contact with a student if they are a threat to themselves or others.

But, depending on the situation, school officials say a student could get out of reach and grabbing them could cause more harm.

The student’s mother is thankful for what the staff did under the circumstances.

“It was a huge relief to see that he was conscious and trying to move around when I got there,” she said.

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