BURKE COUNTY SCHOOLS SETTLEMENT

BURKE COUNTY, N.C. — A settlement has been reached in a suit against Burke County Schools after the family of a child with special needs sued the district saying a teacher strapped their 6-year-old daughter to a chair.

The settlement in the case was $80,000, but the child’s mother told Channel 9′s Dave Faherty no amount of money makes up for what happened to her daughter.

Her attorney Larry Serbin told the judge the little girl, who is nonverbal, suffers from a severe disability called Angelman Syndrome.

She was six years old when she attended North Liberty School in Morganton in 2016. Serbin said during that school year, she was restrained in a chair on several occasions that caused mental health issues.

He believes it was done to make the job of the teacher easier.

[ ALSO READ: Lawsuit: Stanley teacher abuses students with special needs ]

The school district said an assistant teacher was suspended with pay for three months, but she was reinstated after their investigation found no evidence of misconduct or negligence. The district did, however, settle the case Tuesday for $80,000.

“The chairs were being used as a ‘time-out’ or for punishment as opposed to how they should have been used, which was to have children in there to an activity,” Serbin said.

After court, the child’s mother said in a statement, “This has never been about money. No amount of money will ever replace what they did to her. They deserve to be treated like your typical children.”

Serbin told Channel 9 the chair from the incident is no longer being used at the school.

As part of the settlement, there is no admission of guilt by the school system.

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Family awarded $80,000, claims teacher strapped child with special needs to chair