Teacher’s aide accused of hitting student

An aide at a Little Rock middle school is on administrative leave and police are investigating after he was accused of hitting a 12-year-old boy earlier this month.

The mother of the boy, a student at Cloverdale Middle School’s community-based instruction class, returned to the campus Nov. 15 after her son came home with his face “swollen and bruised,” according to a Little Rock police report. She told the school secretary her son said “one of his teachers hit him,” the report states.

Authorities said another member of the boy’s family asked him if he was playing in the school bathroom and fell down, and he replied yes.

According to police, the aide, 64-year-old William Jarmon, said in a statement he remembered taking four boys into the bathroom and when the 12-year-old refused to leave, he held the boy’s hand and “moved him toward the door.”

Cloverdale Principal Wanda Ruffins checked surveillance footage Nov. 18 and said it showed the boy fall onto his hand, with his face “eventually touching the concrete” as Jarmon exited the bathroom behind him, the report states. The aide called for a teacher to get the student off the ground.

The boy’s mother told administrators her son claimed Jarmon hit him. He was taken to Arkansas Children’s Hospital for treatment of injuries to his right eye, authorities said.

Little Rock School District officials learned of the accusations late Saturday, according to a news release by the district. Jarmon was placed on leave pending an investigation, the release states.

The Little Rock Police Department is investigating, department spokesman officer Eric Barnes said.