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Woman claims daughter abused at school by aide

"You don't send your kids to school to be abused, you send them to get an education," said Raneshia Hall, the mother of a 16-year-old student in the McKeesport Area School District.

Raneshia and her husband Curtis' daughter is a freshman in the special education program at McKeesport High School. School surveillance video showed their daughter on the ground in the hallway, after she reportedly tossed a bowl of cereal at a teacher's aide. The aide, identified as Ephriam Wanzo, can be seen on the video walking away, picking up a cup of coffee off of the ground, and then pouring it on the student's head.

"He had the opportunity to walk away from a situation and you came back and threw hot coffee on her," Raneshia Hall said.

The teenage student ran out of the building and to her aunt's house, who called her parents. They said administrators at the school initially denied that the incident happened.

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"They reassured me that he didn't throw coffee on her. He's been working with the district for plenty of years and he's never done anything like that," she said.

But someone at the school reported the incident to ChildLine, prompting the McKeesport Police Department to get involved. They filed reckless-endangerment charges against the aide.

Target 11 reached out to the district, which gave a statement saying, "The safety of our students is the McKeesport Area School District's number one priority. As a District, we cannot comment on any personnel matters."

The attorney representing Wanzo gave a statement to Target 11 saying, “…my client is presently on leave from his job with the McKeesport School District. He is hopeful that, once this matter has concluded, he will return to his prior employment. He finds great reward in assisting these children, and has received a lot of community support because of his prior efforts with other families”.

Attorney Scott Wescott, who is representing the Hall family, said he was surprised when he saw the tape.

"Utter shock. I just couldn't believe that this type of behavior would occur in school."

Wescott said, adding that both the administration and the district's solicitor tried to stonewall attempts to get the video.

"If they attempted to cover up this incident already, what else are they covering up?" Wescott asked.

The Halls took their daughter to a hospital, where they said she was treated for minor burns. She is now in counseling and attending cyber school. The Halls said they plan to file a civil lawsuit against the district. They said they believe that's the only way to get a straight answer.

"The principal repeatedly asked me not to go to the media, 'Whatever you do, don't go to the media.' is what he said. 'Please don't go to the media.' Well, I need answers now. I need justice to be served for my daughter," Raneshia Hall said.