Former Andrews Elementary teacher pleads guilty to assaulting disabled students
Dorothy Jessica Edwards admitted assaulting disabled Andrews Elementary students and was sentenced to 15 days in jail, followed by 24 months of probation.
A former Andrews Elementary School teacher from Graham admitted in Alamance County district court that she assaulted disabled students, closing a case that began with Burlington police reports in November 2024 and raised fresh questions about oversight inside Alamance-Burlington schools.
Dorothy Jessica Edwards pleaded guilty on May 5 to misdemeanor assault on an individual with disabilities after being charged with four counts in November 2024. Court records and earlier reports tied the allegations to two students at Andrews Elementary School, where Edwards worked as an exceptional children’s teacher serving special-needs students.
The allegations reached Burlington police on Friday, Nov. 15, 2024. Officers investigated reports from the school and arrested Edwards on Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. The reported abuse stretched over several weeks, and one warrant accused Edwards of biting a student while another accused her of kicking a student in the leg. Parent Shannon Armstrong said her child suffered a small gash on the head.
Chief District Court Judge Kathryn Overby imposed an intermediate split sentence that requires Edwards to serve 15 days in the Alamance County jail, then complete 24 months of probation. Court papers said Edwards had no prior criminal convictions and is not currently licensed to teach in North Carolina. Two of the four counts appeared to have been dismissed.
The probation terms are strict. Edwards must pay court costs and a fine, avoid contact with anyone under 18 except in limited family or supervised employment settings, continue counseling and grief counseling, stay away from the victims and their relatives, and complete a one-page summary of The Reason I Jump for her probation officer.
Edwards had worked for the Alamance-Burlington School System since August 2020. The district suspended her after the allegations surfaced, and she later resigned effective Dec. 9, 2024, despite having received a four-year contract scheduled to run through 2027.
The case carried added weight in Alamance County because it was reported as the second ABSS employee charged in as many months with allegedly assaulting a student. It also highlights the legal stakes for educators under North Carolina law, where assaults on individuals with disabilities are treated as especially serious because the victims’ disabilities substantially impair their ability to defend themselves. For families of disabled children in Burlington and across Alamance County, the plea leaves the central question unchanged: how the abuse happened, who knew about it, and what ABSS changed after the arrests.
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