Camden Davis’s mother, Milissa Davis, wasn’t sure what to do after her son’s behavior took a turn for the worse. She reached out to her son’s school to see if they knew why his attitude had changed, but no one she spoke to seemed to care. Then, she decided to do a little investigating of her own, and what she uncovered left her stunned.
Davis considered herself lucky because Camden got into the Greater Baton Rouge Hope Academy. “Inclusion, encouragement, positive relationships and recognition of student accomplishment,” were part of the school’s motto. So, she assumed her special needs son would be safe there. But, she was mistaken.
The Academy prided itself on their ability to teach students who had learning disabilities like autism, Asperger syndrome, ADHD, down syndrome, cognitive disabilities and dyslexia. But something had gone terribly wrong with their capabilities to teach their students.
When she asked her son if anything was wrong, he wouldn’t tell her. But she got the distinct impression that he was keeping something from her. And as a mom, she wasn’t about to give up on him that easily. So, she turned to the school for help.
Davis suspected that her son’s odd behavior had something to do with his new school, so she paid Hope Academy a visit and tried speaking with school officials, including the principal. But the school wasn’t very accommodating. So she decided to take a different approach.
Davis stuck a tape recorder inside Camden’s backpack and sent him on his way one morning. She was hoping that the device would give her some clue as to what was really going on at school. But she had no idea that her heart would sink once she heard what was on the recorder.
Davis had made the assumption that students were bullying her son, which is sadly, not an uncommon occurrence in schools these days. It turns out that she was only half right. Camden was being bullied, but not by the students.
She turned to the media as well as social media for help. She even hired a lawyer to pursue legal actions, and Attorney Charlotte McGehee took actions that shook the foundation of Hope Academy to its core. But, the school claimed that Davis didn’t come to them first.
Hope Academy principal Linda Stone addressed the allegations in a statement and claimed that Davis had refused to meet with school officials to talk about how to handle the situation. In fact, Stone claimed that she only learned about the incident after the recordings were uploaded online.
Aidan Reynolds, whose son is autistic, was stunned by Davis’ recordings. “The father in me was outraged, profoundly disappointed,” Reynolds told WBRZ. “I was angry. The lawyer in me was, how did they let this happen. How are they screening these teachers? Are they providing them with any support or sensitivity training?”
Meanwhile, Hope Academy tried doing some damage control. “Over these many years, Hope Academy has built a strong reputation for competently serving the educational needs of the special needs community. These recordings are not an indication of who we are. We ask that the community not let the actions of two persons reflect on the reputation of and the mission of our school—a mission we have tried so hard to build,” Principal Stone explained in her statement. But Davis isn’t taking any chances.
“If they’re special needs, look at the situation as to why your child is acting that way, because no child deserves to go through what my child did,” Davis told WBRZ. But as a mother, she had to make sure that what happened to her son never happened again.
Davis took Camden out of Hope Academy and enrolled him in a new school. But the trauma of what happened before had left her questioning whether his new teachers could be trusted, so she made sure they were qualified.
Unfortunately, the trauma of Camden’s experience by his former teachers continues to haunt him. But Davis believes that with some love and support, her son will become the sweet boy he used to be again.