Athens educator put on leave for allegedly striking special education student

By Rich Flowers
March 11, 2008
Athens Daily News, Athens, TX

An Athens Middle School teacher has been placed on paid administrative leave while the school district investigates an allegation she struck a middle school student. Superintendent Dr. Fred Hayes did not identify the teacher under investigation, but said the complaint involves a special education teacher with 17 years experience and a 13-year-old boy.

“The allegation is that the teacher struck the student after he head-butted her. She popped him in the back of the head with an open hand,” Hayes said. “We take it very seriously. We’re dealing with it.”

The teacher was not escorted from the campus, but has been removed from the classroom. Hayes said there had been no prior allegations of student abuse concerning the teacher.

“She will remain on paid leave until we complete the investigation,” Hayes said. “The investigation involves one particular incident and one particular student. Even though it’s very important, I don’t want anyone to think th ere was widespread abuse going on.”

The incident allegedly occurred March 5 and the investigation began the following afternoon. Hayes is conducting the probe in conjunction with the special education department.

“I’m anticipating that probably by Wednesday we should have it wrapped up,” Hayes said of the investigation. “We never like to deal with anything like this. You hope that no teacher would ever strike a student even if it’s a reaction like to being head-butted. In a special ed situation where the student is more apt to hit you, sometimes there’s a response. But if there is, there’s a consequence.”

The complaint came from a nurse who said she witnessed the incident. He said the nurse meets with the child in the classroom a couple of times a week. The nurse told the parents, who in turn told the principal. From there the message was relayed to Hayes.

“Anytime you have something like this, there are rumors out there that are rampant. I would like to have people understand that our job is to keep your child safe,” Hayes said. “We’re going to do everything we can to do that. Sometimes, unfortunately, that means removing the teacher from the classroom, such as in this case.”

If the investigation should result in the termination of the teacher, Hayes said, the information would be forwarded to the state agency that governs teacher employment. The agency would make the determination concerning whether the teacher could be employed elsewhere.