PARKER COUNTY — A paddling Friday at a Parker County elementary school led to a trip to the hospital for a 6-year-old child and a law enforcement and CPS investigation of the incident.

The Parker County Sheriff’s Office responded to the 1700 block of Tanglewood Drive Saturday afternoon in reference to a possible injury to a child, though abuse was not substantiated, according to sheriff’s department records, and no charges have been filed.

Investigators spoke with a Emergency Room nurse at Cook Children’s Hospital, where a 6-year-old boy had been brought with bruising on the buttocks and wrists following an incident Friday, according to Deputy Danie Huffman.

The school, Azle ISD’s Cross Timbers Elementary, confirmed to investigators that the boy had been disciplined with a paddle on three occasions for being disruptive and not completing work, Huffman said.

The principal provided the same account as the person who paddled the child, and it was determined that the child was only given swats, according to Huffman, who said criminal charges are not being pursued because the incident did not rise to the level of injury to a child under the penal code.

The complainant was not identified.

A call to Cross Timbers Elementary, a branch of the Azle Independent School District, was not returned due to the offices being closed.

Paddling, or corporate punishment, in Texas schools has caused numerous debates over the last several years.

Texas is still one of at least 15 states that allow school officials to paddle students.

The subject has also been a continual debate at the legislative level, with pleas to ban corporal punishment as critics denounced it as “a legalized form of child abuse that leaves lasting emotional scars,” according to a story from the Associated Press published in May.

But paddling remains a fixture, at least in some school districts, as a legal way of punishment.

Terms referring to discipline in the Azle ISD student code of conduct handbook, allow for administration to use “withdrawal or restriction of bus privileges, school-assessed and school-administered probation, or corporal punishment, unless the student’s parent or guardian has provided a signed statement prohibiting its use” among other techniques to be used “alone or in combination, for behavior prohibited by the Student Code of Conduct or by campus or classroom rules.”

Other districts, while allowing a clause for paddling, say that it’s rarely used if at all.

“Our district does allow for corporal punishment, but I don’t think it’s used as much at the junior high or high school level,” Richard Tedder, Brock superintendent, said. “It’s very rare that we implement it, but it is listed as one form of discipline in our student handbooks.”

In districts like Brock, Millsap and Weatherford, the opportunity is there but rarely used. These districts have a link on the district’s web page that details a variety of student rules and protocol, including a list of offenses and consequences by level as well as disciplinary options, which include corporal punishment, restrictions, isolation of a student, parent conference and detention/supervised study.

“If it is administered, it would be under extreme guidelines,” Brock Elementary principal DeeAnn Mills said. “We would certainly notify the parents beforehand.”

Millsap Elementary, which also offers a discipline section in its online student handbook, also requires a parental notification.

“Most schools have headed in that direction and stepped away from corporal punishment,” Matt Adams, Peaster superintendent, said. “There are so many avenues [of punishment] that it’s not worth the risk.

“We haven’t completely done away with it, but it’s a rare instance if we use it.”

Adams said that in the event that corporal punishment may be required, district protocol is to notify the parents, and the student will be disciplined by the campus principal, with the assistant principal typically present as well.

“It is legal to use, but it’s not something we choose to do,” Aledo superintendent Dan Manning said. “At one time, it was a popular method [of discipline] but in today’s world, I don’t think it’s as effective, especially at the larger schools.”

Most districts also allow a parent or guardian exemption from corporal punishment, either by writing and signing a form handed to the principal, or filling out a Parent/Guardian Acknowledgement Form through the district.

“In our district, it is still policy-permitted, but if it’s ever used, it’s used sparingly,” Millsap superintendent David Belding said. “The parents or guardians are also notified well ahead of time.”



Staff writer Christin Coyne contributed to this report.