Corsicana ISD assistant principal left blind in right eye after student throws wooden hanger at her

CORSICANA, Texas - The Corsicana ISD administrator who suffered a serious eye injury after being attacked by a student says what happened to her is a consequence of state negligence.

Candra Rogers, the assistant principal at Collins Intermediate School, addressed the media on Tuesday morning and shared the details of her injury for the first time.

Rogers is now blind in her right eye after a student threw chairs at her and hit her in the face with a hanger.

Joined by her family, Rogers walked into the Corsicana ISD boardroom to retell the incident that left her blind in her right eye.

Answering a Call for Help

On August 15, there was an urgent call for help in a classroom for students with behavioral issues. Rogers was trying to calm an out-of-control student.

"When I arrived, the teacher and students were outside the classroom. One student was holding his head, having been assaulted by the student remaining in the classroom," she recalled. "I entered where the student was still irate and found the room ransacked with overturned furniture. I knew I had to be as calm as possible, and I spoke lowly and slowly so as not to enrage him any further."

 What she describes is a violent confrontation. It’s more than what the district called a "classroom disruption."

Rogers said the student threw a chair, but she caught it and used it to block a second chair and third chair that were thrown at her and another assistant principal.

"After blocking a chair thrown at the other assistant principal, he threw a wooden hanger at me, but I couldn’t stop it fast enough. The hanger hit me in my right eye and knocked it out of the socket," she said. "I grabbed by face while blood was pouring out of my head and stumbled out of the classroom door."

Rogers was ultimately airlifted to Parkland Medical Center in Dallas for emergency surgery. Doctors were able to reinsert her eye but said she will likely be permanently blind in that eye.

Rogers will have additional surgery to repair her eyelid and may one day still lose her damaged eye.

"I’m still believing in God for a miracle for restoration of my eyesight," she said.

Rogers also thanked the community for all the support and prayers, saying they have given her and her family strength during this difficult time.

There is no timetable for when Rogers will return to work.

A Call for Public Education Changes

Rogers, a longtime educator, says it’s time for lawmakers to reevaluate the education code and how marginalized students are disciplined in schools.

"Chapter 37 of our Texas Education Code, which was originally created in 1995 to help protect our marginalized students with regard to how students are disciplined, may need to be reevaluated so that no paraprofessional, no teacher, or principal… simply put, no educator should ever be put in this situation. I fully understand education laws and the need for students to be educated with their peers. Chapter 37 may need to incorporate changes to address the mental, social, and emotional well-being of these students," she said.

Rogers said the root of the problem needs to be addressed first.

"Overly aggressive students need services to meet their needs, but I do not believe the safety of other students and the educational staff should suffer."

Rogers said public school districts in Texas are vastly underfunded and being burdened by unfunded mandates at a time when all costs are rising. She called out Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and state lawmakers for failing to pass a school funding bill during the most recent legislative session.

"It's wrong to take money from grossly underfunded schools. I've been in education for 30 years, and I am a proud product of public schools," she said. "I believe in public school education, but what happened to me should never happen to another educator. Mr. Abbott, release the funds because you are also culpable for what happened to me."

Student could face criminal charges

The student responsible was detained and then released into the custody of his parents.

Corsicana ISD said he is now restricted to a specific location and is no longer allowed on campus.

His case has been referred to the Navarro County District Attorney’s Office and the Juvenile Probation Department.

"It's not the child's fault per se, but it is the child's fault. It has to be dealt with. You can't just say you know this person has a mental condition so we'll let it go," said attorney George Ashford, who is not involved in the case.

Ashford works in both the adult and juvenile systems. He says if the boy is charged, it would be a first-degree felony assault, but there will have to be a determination made about his conduct that will include psychiatric evaluations.

"As severe as his actions were, as they've been described to me, and knowing, in fact, that he does already have a mental health condition,I can almost say for sure, and his age, him being so young, that's probably going to be inevitable," Ashford said.