A 9-year-old autistic student was allegedly assaulted by a teacher, prompting a Texas Education Agency investigation and raising additional concerns about the state’s oversight of educator misconduct.
A recently released video shows a teacher at Woodcreek Elementary School in the Katy Independent School District attempting to strike a 9-year-old autistic student in the face before grabbing him by the collar and pulling him onto a table.
The Fort Bend District Attorney’s Office has confirmed that the teacher, identified as Fady Hanna, was charged in May 2024 with a Class C Misdemeanor for assault by contact. The charges resulted in deferred adjudication probation, including mandatory anger management classes, which the district confirmed he’d completed.
According to Hanna’s LinkedIn profile, he is a “special education educator” and the “Campus teacher of the year 23/24 at Katy ISD,” a title he held during the school year when the alleged assault occurred. His profile also indicates he previously worked for Fort Bend County ISD as a special education teacher for one year.
The student’s mother, Daniela Reinfeld, shared the district police’s incident report with KPRC 2.
The report reveals that Reinfeld noticed bruises on her son’s body as early as January 2024. However, when she alerted the teacher, the response was merely to move her son closer to the front of the class. The report states, “Due to [her son] no longer coming home with bruises, she did not escalate the matter to report the bruising to the administration at Woodcreek Elementary.”
Reinfeld later became aware of the assault, which was caught on video during the summer of 2024, further intensifying concerns about her son’s treatment.
Now, eight months after the police investigation, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) is still performing an ongoing investigation into Hanna. The TEA has confirmed that Hanna holds three Texas Educator Certifications in “core subjects with STR [Science of Teaching Reading],” “special education,” and “English as a second language supplemental.” These certifications are set to expire in 2028.
In the broader context of educator misconduct, Texas Education 911 recently analyzed 11,111 reports submitted by Texas school administrators to the TEA between September 2021 and July 2024. Of those reports, 6,888 were of physical and sexual offenses by taxpayer-funded school employees perpetrated on students in Texas schools. Alarming evidence also showed that TEA did not open an investigation into a majority of those misconduct reports—61 percent.
Katy ISD told Texas Scorecard in a statement that “The alleged incident occurred at the conclusion of the 2024 spring semester, and the individual is no longer employed with the district. The district launched an investigation after school officials were made aware, and the individual resigned amid the investigation. The parents of the impacted student were contacted and involved in the investigation.”
