Dina Fanella

Introduction

Dina Fanella, 54, is a special education teacher with the Clark County School District (CCSD) in Las Vegas, Nevada, whose most recent assignment was at Rex Bell Elementary School. On September 1, 2026, she was arrested by the Clark County School District Police Department and booked into the Clark County Detention Center on charges of child abuse/neglect and battery, following an investigation that began the previous month at the school. According to Las Vegas news outlets that reported the case on September 16, 2026, the charges arise from allegations involving two nonverbal autistic students. Fanella has been charged but not tried; she is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law, and her account to police differs from the allegations, as described below.

Background Information

Fanella had been employed by the Clark County School District since March 2006, according to district officials cited by FOX5, giving her roughly two decades with the district before her arrest. Her most recent assignment was as a teacher at Rex Bell Elementary School, referred to in some reports as Bell Elementary School, a campus located near Valley View and Desert Inn roads in Las Vegas. The school’s staff page listed Fanella as a primary autism teacher, according to News 3.

The allegations that led to the criminal case concerned students described in police-related reporting as nonverbal autistic children. FOX5 reported, citing police, that a witness told investigators they saw Fanella hit two non-verbal autistic students, and News 3 characterized the accused conduct as the alleged use of force against two nonverbal autistic students at the school. The available reports do not describe any prior disciplinary history or earlier public controversies involving Fanella.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Allegations. The claims in this section are allegations from prosecutors and police. They were never admitted by Dina Fanella, and she has been charged but not tried; she is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.

According to the Las Vegas Sun, citing a Clark County School District Police news release, Fanella was arrested on September 1, 2026, and booked into the Clark County Detention Center on charges of child abuse/neglect and battery. The arrest stemmed from an investigation that began the previous month at Rex Bell Elementary School, where Fanella was teaching. FOX5 reported that police initially issued Fanella a citation during the initial inquiry, but the charges were later upgraded, leading to her formal arrest; News 3 likewise reported that the charges were later changed.

Details of the accusations come from an arrest report obtained by News 3. According to that report, a teacher’s aide said she saw Fanella push a student in late August — FOX5, citing the report, placed the incident on August 27 — causing him to fall, hit his head on a table, bleed, and later require stitches. The school nurse described a wound of roughly one inch and said stitches were needed. The aide also alleged that Fanella warned her she could lose her job if she reported the incident; FOX5 reported that the witness told police Fanella threatened them, saying she would lose her job if she was reported.

A second incident allegedly took place the following day. According to the arrest report, the same teacher’s aide alleged that Fanella grabbed another student’s hand and struck it with an open hand after the student reached for toys. No injury was reported in connection with that incident.

Fanella gave police a different account of both episodes. According to the arrest report, she told police that the first student had grabbed her arm and shaken her arm, and that she shook her arm to free herself, after which the student ran, tripped, and hit his head. As for the second student, FOX5 reported that she denied hitting him, insisting she “guided” his hands, according to the report.

A booking photograph of Fanella was not made available. According to FOX5, authorities noted that the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department informed district police that a recent U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling bars LVMPD from releasing booking photos to the public.

Public Reaction and Consequences

News of the arrest was published on September 16, 2026, by the Las Vegas television stations FOX5 and News 3 (KSNV) and by the Las Vegas Sun, each drawing on the school district police department’s statements and, in News 3’s case, on the arrest report itself. The available reporting records no statements from parents, advocacy organizations, or district leadership beyond the police news release.

The principal immediate consequence was administrative. The district stated that Fanella would be placed on paid leave: the Las Vegas Sun reported, per the news release, that the placement followed the negotiated agreement with the teachers union, while FOX5 described it as paid administrative leave pending further proceedings under the district’s negotiated agreement with the employee bargaining unit.

Current Status

As of the most recent available reporting, dated September 16, 2026, Fanella’s criminal charges were pending and she had not been tried on them. She was awaiting further proceedings while on paid leave from the district, an arrangement attributed to its negotiated agreement with the bargaining unit. The available reports do not describe a disposition in the criminal case or the outcome of any district employment proceedings. Fanella maintains the presumption of innocence, and her account to police remains her stated version of events.

Impact on Their Career/Life

The arrest interrupted a career with the Clark County School District that had spanned more than twenty years, dating to March 2006. Under the negotiated agreement with the employee bargaining unit, Fanella was placed on paid administrative leave pending further proceedings, meaning she was no longer performing classroom duties at Rex Bell Elementary while the criminal case and any employment process continued. The available reports do not state whether the district had taken additional employment action, and no conviction or adjudication had been reported. Because no booking photo was released, the public record of the case consists of the police news release, the reporting on the arrest report, and the district’s statements about her leave status.