Friday, the Texas Education Agency said it was changing Avondale House's compliance status to "non-approval," which means public school districts will no longer be able to send kids there.
It comes after a May incident that the school reported to the TEA, in which the agency said school staff pushed, dragged, and shook a student.
The school said all three staffers involved were promptly fired.
"A staff member reported it, we investigated it as soon as we found out," Avondale House CEO Steve Vetrano said. "We took immediate action to terminate the staff involved. We notified all of the individuals that were supposed to be notified, and we feel like we did everything we're supposed to do in this instance."
Bridgette Williams, whose adult son has been enrolled in Avondale House programs since the age of 4, said the TEA's decision feels like an overreaction.
"I've only had positive experiences with Avondale House," Williams said.
"They knew what to do and how to do it when I didn't," she added.
It's a far cry from the abuse Megan Vest believes her non-verbal nine-year-old daughter suffered at the hands of a teacher's aide during a field trip to the downtown aquarium on July 29.
Vest said she only learned about the allegation recently from a now-former teacher's aide who told ABC13 she witnessed it.
"Slammed her on the toilet, slammed her against the stall wall. Slammed her again and popped her in the face," Vest said.
Houston police confirmed Vest filed a report Monday. But the school said neither Vest nor the teacher's aide reported the alleged assault to them.
"I'm not aware of such allegations or anything like that, so I can't really speak to that," Vetrano said.
"They seen it on my TikTok, so they're fully aware of it," Vest countered.
The TEA revoked its approval of Avondale House once before in 2023 after finding that students were being pulled by bus safety harnesses and that restraints and time-outs weren't being properly documented.
Avondale House agreed to a corrective action plan, which the TEA now claims the school hasn't delivered on.
The school disagrees and said it is now in the process of preparing a lawsuit against the TEA.
"We have been working with the TEA for multiple years and have been meeting the milestones that we're supposed to meet," said Vetrano.
The TEA's decision won't directly affect any of Avondale House's other programs, but will mean most of the school's 17 students will have to find a different school.
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