Another Teacher in Trouble; Alleged to Have Battered Student at Lee School

By JAYETTE BOLINSKI

A 53-year-old teacher at Lee Elementary School has been placed on administrative leave after punching a 20-year-old special-education student last week, authorities said.

The incident happened Tuesday and was reported to police on Friday.

A spokeswoman for the Springfield School District, Sarah Watson, declined to discuss the incident Monday, saying "the situation is under review."

An administrator at Lee, 1201 Bunn Ave., told police the incident happened about 1:15 p.m. Tuesday.

The student, who has mental disabilities, left his music class and went to the stage for some reason. His teacher found him and told him to go back to his classroom. The student apparently spit on and hit the woman in the face, according to the police report.

The teacher called for help from attendants, who escorted the student to a "time-out" area.

The teacher allegedly followed, screaming and swearing at the student. She then punched him several times in the head and stomach, according to the report. The attendants separated the teacher and the student.

One of the attendants told police the student had been in time- out for only a few seconds when the teacher charged at the student, screamed at him and struck him repeatedly with a closed fist.

The police report said the teacher was placed on administrative leave, but police did not release her name because she was not arrested. The incident is under investigation.

The victim has a behavior disorder with cognitive impairment, authorities said.

The Lee incident was unrelated to one last week at Fairview Elementary School, 2200 Ridgely Ave., during which a 69-year-old substitute teacher allegedly hit a boy with a broom and made inappropriate remarks to children in the classroom.

The woman also allegedly used foul language with the students, said she’d like to kill all of them and said parents today don’t know how to discipline their children.

Fairview’s principal received several phone calls from parents complaining about the substitute’s behavior. Authorities said she is a longtime substitute teacher but now is banned from teaching in local schools.

Originally published by JAYETTE BOLINSKI STAFF WRITER / jayette.bolinski@sj-r.com.

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