Parents of Nonverbal, Autistic Students Sue The Joshua School in Englewood

In a lawsuit filed on Dec. 31, the parents of the three nonverbal autistic students allegedly abused by former Littleton Public Schools bus paraprofessional Kiarra Jones claim The Joshua School and several of its employees neglected to report the abuse and failed to protect their children.

The Joshua School, in far northeast Englewood, is a private facility primarily serving autistic children. The LPS bus where Jones was an aide drove the children to and from the school.

Jones pleaded guilty to child abuse charges on Jan. 5, the day her trial was scheduled to begin.

“Although Jones was employed by LPS, (The Joshua School) was responsible for protecting (Dax Vestal), (Hunter Yarbrough), and (Andrew McBride). Jones’s abuse did not persist because it was hidden or unknowable. It persisted because (The Joshua School) — despite possessing the relevant information, repeated warnings, and institutional expertise — chose inaction, dishonesty, and self-preservation over its legal duty to safeguard the children entrusted to its care,” the lawsuit reads. “(The Joshua School) was the only entity with visibility into the full scope of what was happening, and it repeatedly failed to act.”

The court filing claims school staff observed behavioral changes and unexplained injuries in the students as early as September 2023, but did not report them to authorities and instead attributed the injuries to the students harming themselves.

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