The Poudre School District (PSD), the Colorado Department of Education, and the state Board of Education have been slapped with a civil lawsuit after the families of five special needs children say their children were harmed by a former school bus paraprofessional. Tyler Zanella faces 164 charges, including 34 felony counts of assault against at-risk victims. Fort Collins police used video surveillance to identify at least 11 victims in the case, who they say are nonverbal autistic children. The Coloradoan reports the lawsuit claims the students, who attended Shepardson and Bacon elementary schools, were verbally harassed, taunted, hit, and sexually battered. Attorney Stephen Baity, who represents the families, called the tapes “disturbing” and claims additional acts of abuse could have been stopped had PSD adequately investigated reports from parents sooner.
