A former Columbia County School District mother has filed a lawsuit against the district, alleging that staff at Euchee Creek Elementary have subjected her daughter to abuses in the classroom.
Etoi Taylor, who has now moved her children into Richmond County schools as of February 2025, said that one of her daughters – who has Downs Syndrome as well as autism – experienced being hit, pinched and even forcefully fed yogurt, which she is allergic to, all within her special education classroom.
These examples all stem from one day in May 2023, Taylor says, actions she wasn’t aware of until she requested to see classroom surveillance footage.
Red flags were raised for Taylor when her daughter cried all the way home from school that day, for the entire 17 minute ride.
“It was like hyperventilating. She was coughing, you know, and she was just like, you know, just scared. And I’m just trying to understand what is going on,” Taylor said.
She claims that in video recordings of that day, she saw teacher Christopher Jacobs shove her nonverbal daughter’s desk and forcibly shake her, teacher’s assistant Melanie Knowlton slapping at her daughter’s face, striking her legs, forcibly removing a fidget bracelet from her wrist and Knowlton putting yogurt on her fingers and force feeding it to the girl, who is “highly allergic” and substitute teacher Tracy Underwood was shown hitting the girl’s leg and pinching her.
“It was like she was tortured throughout the entire day, from morning to the end of the day,” said Taylor.
CCSD Superintendent Dr. Steven Flynt was also included in the lawsuit, for “negligence and indifference” and “willful, wanton and reckless behavior.”
According to Taylor, Flynt was informed about the incidents of abuse and “did nothing.” Taylor claims to have emailed him about it directly as well as having cc’d him in other emails pertaining to her concerns.
The lawsuit seeks a jury trial. The plaintiff is asking compensatory damages in excess of $50,000.
The Columbia County School District declined to comment with a representative said that they cannot discuss a case that is actively under litigation.
‘It just seemed like they didn’t want to teach my daughters’
Not included in the lawsuit, Taylor claims that her children were withdrawn from Euchee Creek by Principal Katy Yeargain in January 2023.
Taylor said this withdrawal was in response to a false claim that she and her children were living in Richmond County, when at the time they were still living in Grovetown.
She claims that she provided the school with necessary documents to show proof of residence, but that a social security worker was sent to the home following this to make sure she truly lived in Columbia County.
“I had provided proof of our residence. Anytime they needed anything from me, whether it was a lease, water bill, light bill, my driver’s license, even my vehicle registration. But it just seemed like it just wasn’t enough,” she said.
“It just seemed like they didn’t want to teach my daughters,” she added.
Taylor said social workers were sent out to her home multiple times, including once in January 2025 accompanied with a police officer.
“It was just, like one thing after another. Just continuously being harassed,” she said.
