WayzUp
03-03-2007, 08:58 AM
Students taped to chairs by substitute
Jefferson County bans teacher after Scotch tape used on 4th graders
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
RAHKIA NANCE
News staff writer
A substitute teacher was banned Tuesday from working in Jefferson County schools, one day after she taped a student's mouth shut and bound four other students to their seats at Pleasant Grove Elementary School.
The woman, whose name school officials declined to release, was substitute teaching in a fourth-grade classroom Monday when the incident happened.
"I don't know what keyed this, but (the taping) was done as a disciplinary action," said Nez Calhoun, a spokeswoman for the district.
Calhoun said the woman told the students to raise their arms and then bound them to their chairs with Scotch tape.
A Pleasant Grove Elementary teacher whose child was in the class alerted Principal Jay Jacks. News of the incident reached parents, who were upset.
"When I asked my son about it, he immediately started to cry," said Stacey Walker, whose son's mouth was taped shut. She said her son is asthmatic and also takes medication for attention deficit disorder.
"If he needed discipline, send them to the office. Don't tape his mouth shut," Walker said.
She said her son was reticent about the incident, fearing he would be in trouble.
"I was mad," said Angela Anderson, whose daughter was taped to her seat. Anderson said the substitute teacher also bound her daughter's legs together with tape. "If I had tied my daughter up, they would have called DHR on me."
Anderson said the students were bound for the majority of a class period, which lasts 45 minutes to an hour.
Jacks called an emergency staff meeting Monday afternoon and met with parents of four of the five students involved Tuesday morning. He said the fourth-grade class was doing fine Tuesday.
"I met with them this morning and let them know they're safe here at the school, and if there's anything they want to talk to us about, they can," he said.
Jacks said this is the first time an incident like this has happened in the four years he has been principal at the school. Calhoun said she could not think of any similar incidents in the district.
"This is certainly not the way we do discipline in the county schools," Calhoun said.
No criminal charges were filed against the woman.
Article linkage (http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/11726544423410.xml&coll=2#continue)
Jefferson County bans teacher after Scotch tape used on 4th graders
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
RAHKIA NANCE
News staff writer
A substitute teacher was banned Tuesday from working in Jefferson County schools, one day after she taped a student's mouth shut and bound four other students to their seats at Pleasant Grove Elementary School.
The woman, whose name school officials declined to release, was substitute teaching in a fourth-grade classroom Monday when the incident happened.
"I don't know what keyed this, but (the taping) was done as a disciplinary action," said Nez Calhoun, a spokeswoman for the district.
Calhoun said the woman told the students to raise their arms and then bound them to their chairs with Scotch tape.
A Pleasant Grove Elementary teacher whose child was in the class alerted Principal Jay Jacks. News of the incident reached parents, who were upset.
"When I asked my son about it, he immediately started to cry," said Stacey Walker, whose son's mouth was taped shut. She said her son is asthmatic and also takes medication for attention deficit disorder.
"If he needed discipline, send them to the office. Don't tape his mouth shut," Walker said.
She said her son was reticent about the incident, fearing he would be in trouble.
"I was mad," said Angela Anderson, whose daughter was taped to her seat. Anderson said the substitute teacher also bound her daughter's legs together with tape. "If I had tied my daughter up, they would have called DHR on me."
Anderson said the students were bound for the majority of a class period, which lasts 45 minutes to an hour.
Jacks called an emergency staff meeting Monday afternoon and met with parents of four of the five students involved Tuesday morning. He said the fourth-grade class was doing fine Tuesday.
"I met with them this morning and let them know they're safe here at the school, and if there's anything they want to talk to us about, they can," he said.
Jacks said this is the first time an incident like this has happened in the four years he has been principal at the school. Calhoun said she could not think of any similar incidents in the district.
"This is certainly not the way we do discipline in the county schools," Calhoun said.
No criminal charges were filed against the woman.
Article linkage (http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/11726544423410.xml&coll=2#continue)