A Cummings Elementary School teacher was placed on administrative leave as Winthrop Police and the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office investigate alleged inappropriate behavior with an autistic student.
“We are working with the D.A.’s office and there may or may not be criminal charges,†said Winthrop Police Chief Terence Delehanty. “We have collected physical and forensic evidence but we want the facts to lead us to a conclusion, not speculation.â€
Delehanty said police were called to the school after staff members reported alleged inappropriate behavior.
It has been already reported that the teached allegedly taped the autistic student’s eyebrows and then ripped the tape off causing the student to yell ‘ouch’.
The teacher has not been fired and Delehanty said the teacher and others in the school have all been cooperating.
“We understand that some parents are frustrated on the lack of information we have released but there is methodical work that goes into investigations,†said Delehanty. “But we want to make clear that we take any allegation of misconduct against a child very serious.â€
Winthrop School Superintendent John Macero said he would not comment on the incident because it is now a police matter but did say he and the school took immediate action.
“When we were made aware of the allegations we took action,†said Macero. “We are conducting our own internal investigation but I’m pleased the administration was swift in briging the alleged incident to my attention.â€
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Again...I am totally confused here.
The investigation seeks to gather facts about an allegation that a child's eyebrow was ripped off.
Why not LOOK AT THE CHILD'S FACE?????
Either the child's eyebrow was ripped off or it wasn't. If it was, there must be clear physical evidence of that. Redness, absence of hair, etc. Can't the authorities SEE (literally .... see) whether the allegation is true or false?
Or did someone quickly replace the eyebrow with a fake one that is absolutely convincing???
If the investigation seeks to discover WHO ripped the eyebrow off, why is only one teacher targeted for administrative leave? I guess only one teacher is thought to be the perpetrator.
I guess what I am trying to understand is WHAT is the investigation seeking to discover?
Anyone?
Ellen
I don't think that I understand this as well. The article says "inappropriate conduct." Where is the "inappropriate conduct?" What I see here is assault. If I went into a shopping mall and did this to a stranger, I would be arrested for assault. Why is this teacher being protected? I am not frustrated by the lack of information. I am frustrated by the double standard. It is now time for justice.
I see my son in this boy. I remember the time when my son"s behavior at school suddenly deteriorated with the arrival of a new teacher. Nobody wanted to tell me anything. Teacher's aide was forbidden from telling me anything. No administrator supervised this new teacher. The principal said " I trust her 100 percent". I took my son out of school until the other placement was found. Two years later I learned details. My son cannot talk, scheduling observation was very difficult. Every town should have a small group of parents 2-3 who get Cori vetting who could make surprise visits to classrooms where children unable to communicate are taught. Nobody can be trusted 100 percent.
When this abused (it seems like the teacher was giving students lesson in hurtful bullying) boy grows up, he might start to defend himself, and then it would be said, that it was all his fault. But it would be all about what the school taught him. What a shame.
Maria Hrabowski