Raleigh mother alleges autistic son abused by former PreEminent employee; school investigates
Raleigh mother Atoya Barrett says her nonverbal 9-year-old son, Harlem, was beaten by a former PreEminent instructional assistant; the school says the employee no longer works there.
A Raleigh mother, Atoya Barrett, alleges her nonverbal 9-year-old son, Harlem Barrett, was physically abused by a former instructional assistant at PreEminent Charter School and went public Feb. 20, 2026. The school has confirmed the person no longer works there and, according to family accounts, officials are investigating the matter.
Barrett said she removed Harlem from PreEminent on Jan. 13 because she feared retaliation for speaking out and now homeschools him. Barrett filed a police report and has pressed for an outside, independent investigation into how the school handles students with special needs; she said, “Retaliation is real, and that's exactly why, on Jan. 13, I pulled my son out, because I know once I started telling the story, things were going to get bad.”
Barrett described months of problems in Harlem’s special education classroom during his roughly two and a half years at PreEminent. She told reporters her son repeatedly communicated that the instructional assistant “is bad and hits him a lot.” Barrett also criticized academic supports, saying, “They weren't challenging him enough. I felt like he was doing a lot of coloring and whatnot, and I know my son can do much more than that.”
PreEminent Charter School in Raleigh is operated by National Heritage Academies, a national for-profit company, and carries a D rating on North Carolina School Report Cards. Parents cited high turnover in special education staff: Barrett said Harlem was “doing wonderfully until May 2024” when a named special education teacher, Kaitlyn Jacobson, was arrested on misdemeanor child abuse charges in May 2024; Barrett said a second teacher was later let go and a third teacher left. The school told the family that the alleged employee no longer works at PreEminent, but the family and other parents want a full independent review.
Advocates in the disability community say the allegations raise broader oversight and safety concerns. Rev. Charlrean Mapson, a member of the North Carolina Council of Developmental Disabilities and a parent of a child with autism, said she is “not surprised” at the alleged incidents and described struggles getting consistent supports in schools. Barrett’s call for accountability echoes past regional concerns: a separate, earlier Wake County case documented in public disability-advocacy records described alleged failures to document restraints and seclusion, delayed parent notifications and other procedural breakdowns between Nov. 2018 and March 2019.
Key facts remain unresolved: the identity and personnel file of the unnamed former instructional assistant, the exact dates and descriptions of the alleged incidents, the police report number and investigative status, and whether any medical or forensic examinations were done for Harlem. Barrett has asked for an independent investigation; the school’s investigation has not been publicly detailed and National Heritage Academies has not released a full statement to the family in the materials Barrett has shared.
The family’s actions — withdrawing Harlem on Jan. 13, filing a police report, and pressing for an outside review — have immediate implications for other families with students in special education at PreEminent and across Wake County. Parents and disability advocates say clearer protocols, staffing stability in licensed special education positions, and transparent, independent review processes are needed to protect vulnerable students and restore community trust.
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