A Fort Worth family has filed a lawsuit against Arka Montessori Academy of Risinger, alleging that surveillance footage shows a former staff member encouraging her own son to attack a 4-year-old boy in her care. Heather Harris says she sensed something was wrong and made an unannounced stop at the daycare on April 27, setting off a chain of events that led her family to court.
According to WFAA, the family’s attorney, Russell T. Button, said surveillance video shows an adult employee instigating a fight involving the boy, allegedly handling him “like a human rag doll” while urging her own child to keep attacking him. Button described the scene to the station as resembling a child fight club. As reported by The Independent, the boy had been practicing Michael Jackson dance moves and playing with a Michael Jackson glove before the alleged incident, and the lawsuit claims the former staff member caused him to fall after shaking him.
Harris told WFAA she knew something had happened the moment she saw her son’s cry and facial expression, which is what prompted her to request access to the daycare’s surveillance cameras. Her husband, Richard Harris, said to WFAA that the daycare failed the family’s trust. The lawsuit, filed by a Fort Worth family against the facility, argues Arka Montessori Academy of Risinger failed in its duty to protect the child while he was participating in sports activities at the center.
A Facility Chosen for Its Cameras
The Harris couple says they researched multiple daycare facilities before enrolling their son, prioritizing cleanliness, educational standards, and 24-7 surveillance cameras. That emphasis on constant video monitoring is central to how Arka Montessori Academy markets itself to families in the growing South Fort Worth area, touting round-the-clock surveillance in its dayrooms alongside play-based learning. For the Harrises, that promise of transparency was reportedly a key reason they chose the Fort Worth center in the first place.
When WFAA reached out to the daycare for comment, an employee declined to speak on camera and asked that inquiries be directed to the facility director by email. The Independent said it also contacted Button and Arka Montessori Academy of Risinger for comment on the lawsuit.
State Inspection Records Show a Mixed History
State records reviewed as part of the case show the academy accumulated 21 deficiencies since January 2024, involving health and safety risks, though a subsequent inspection on August 20, 2026, recorded zero deficiencies. Public regulatory records list the facility under license number 1791060 as a licensed child-care center authorized to care for up to 160 children from infancy through school age, according to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. The commission weights compliance deficiencies on a scale from low to high risk, reserving its highest designation for acts or omissions that cause or create direct risk of serious physical harm.
Under Texas Administrative Code Title 26 Chapter 746, employees at licensed child-care centers are required to demonstrate self-control and courtesy, protect children from abuse or neglect, and immediately report any suspected abuse to state regulators. Texas Child Care Regulation guidelines also mandate that providers document any on-site injury and supply a signed incident report to parents within 48 hours, per the Button Law Firm. Separately, Section 42.049 of the Texas Human Resources Code requires licensed daycares to carry at least $300,000 in liability insurance per occurrence, and Texas court precedent has established that signed liability waivers cannot shield facilities from negligence claims when safety standards are breached, according to Cowen Law.
Part of a Wider Pattern in North Texas
This is not the only Arka Montessori location to draw scrutiny recently. In September 2026, a separate Arka Montessori site in Forney came under police investigation after a 5-year-old girl was left locked inside a daycare transportation bus for more than two hours in triple-digit heat, according to FOX 4 Dallas-Fort Worth. The back-to-back incidents at different locations under the same brand name have raised questions about supervision and staff training across the regional operation.
The Button Law Firm has handled similar cases before. In April, the firm filed a $1 million lawsuit against a Frisco daycare after state child protective investigators confirmed surveillance video showed a caregiver yanking and forcefully shoving a 3-year-old, a case Hoodline covered in a $1M Frisco daycare suit. It remains an open question whether local law enforcement or the Tarrant County District Attorney will pursue criminal charges against the former Arka Montessori employee, and how the facility’s ownership will formally respond to the civil complaint once pleadings are filed.
