NJ school suspends 5 employees after special-needs student was bound with tape

🔺5 school staffers suspended
🔺Firing on urgent agenda
🔺Student involved is special needs, report says

BARNEGAT — A teacher and four support staffers were suspended and are headed for firing after a recent incident with a student at one of Barnegat’s public schools.

The incident happened at the Russell O. Brackman School, the district's middle school for 7th and 8th graders, Schools Superintendent Brian Latwis in a letter to school families last week.

Barnegat police investigated but did not anticipate charging anyone with a crime, he said.

While not confirmed by school officials, the child was an 8-year-old special needs student who is enrolled in the district’s program dubbed “Academics, Communication, and Essential Skills (ACES),” News 12 reported.

The student’s mother, a Lakewood resident, described being shown photos of her child’s wrists and ankles bound with tape and was told she also had tape on her mouth.

The young child is non-verbal and diagnosed with autism, ADHD and cognitive delays, according to the same report, which said the mother is planning to sue the school district.

Read More: Prosecutor says NJ teacher taped child, 9, to desk, for nearly hour

It is part of a sprawling property where it is flanked by an elementary school that serves Kindergarten through 2nd grade and the intermediate school for 5th and 6th graders.

The State Division of Child Protection and Permanency also launched an investigation, which was expected to wrap up soon.

The immediate firing of all five staff members was on the agenda of a special Barnegat Board of Education meeting scheduled for Wednesday evening at Barnegat High School.

“I do want to make this clear: Barnegat Township School District does not condone the kind of behavior under investigation,” Latwis said in the same community letter.

“We took immediate action to contact partner agencies to ensure we hold staff accountable and demonstrate the standards of conduct and expectations we have for anyone who is part of our school community,” he continued.

“We take the health and safety of each child personally, and we take incidents that pose a risk to that priority extremely seriously.”

The mother said to News 12 that lately, instead of screaming, her daughter has been crying more frequently, which is a new behavior.

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