What started as a case of alleged classroom abuse has exploded into a full-blown scandal at the top of Greenup County Schools.
Newly unsealed text messages between Superintendent Traysea Moresea and members of the Greenup County Board of Education paint an ugly picture of officials mocking students with disabilities, ridiculing parents, and even worrying about how to cover their tracks once courts started digging.
“Navigating a Special Olympics Drop-Off”
In one jaw-dropping exchange, Superintendent Moresea described pickup time at two schools with high special-ed enrollment by saying she felt like she was “navigating a Special Olympics drop-off.”
A board member replied, “Oh my,” and the conversation moved on like it was no big deal
Other texts mock speech impediments, disabilities, and family poverty, with the tone of a mean-girl group chat rather than public officials trusted to educate children.
“Offer Him Speech Therapy — For Your Enjoyment”
When a man with a lisp was mentioned, a board member quipped, “For your enjoyment, please offer him speech therapy.”
Moresea piled on, saying she assumed “his lisp was the result of his Sunday School teacher’s lessons,” then admitted, “You know I can’t hide it.”
“Education Is F***ed”
Frustration turned into open contempt for the very system they run.
“Do we have to pay for this? Education is f***ed,” one message reads.
When a church requested speech-therapy plans for a disabled child, Moresea griped, “I don’t want to comply, but I also need to keep our kids and staff off NBC News.”
Parents Called “C***-Faced,” Students “Liabilities”
The cruelty didn’t stop there. In another thread, Moresea referred to a coach as a “c*-faced coach**.” Elsewhere, she called one mother an “ambulance chaser” and joked about “dragging parents in for every sniffle so maybe they’ll move their kids out of the district.”
“Delete All Our Conversations LOL”
Perhaps most telling of all: they knew their texts could get them in trouble.
When talk turned to an ongoing investigation and whether courts could access personal phones, a board member asked, “How can they get access to personal cell phones?”
Moresea responded that the Kentucky Board of Education was talking about changing the law so texts related to child-safety cases could be pulled.
The reply?
“Well, it hasn’t changed yet. Do we pay for Tiffany’s phone? Delete all our conversations LOL.”
It’s the kind of nervous laughter that doesn’t sound so funny now that those same texts are public.
Background: 1,188 Charges of Abuse
The Greenup County Schools nightmare began when four former McKell Elementary employees were indicted on 1,188 criminal counts of abusing non-verbal autistic children.
Charges include:
- 531 counts of physical abuse
- 250 counts of mental abuse
- 138 counts of improper restraint
- 137 counts involving a restraint chair
- 12 counts of unlawful imprisonment
Parents say school leaders ignored warnings and then tried to hide the truth.
Lawsuit to Unseal the Truth
Attorneys for the families have asked a judge to unseal every message between the superintendent and board members, arguing:
“These text messages speak about both children and adults with special needs in extremely derogatory and aggressive tones. Parents and the public deserve to know.”
The motion also notes that some messages discuss Medicaid billing irregularities and threats allegedly made toward the plaintiffs’ lawyer — all issues now under review.
