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Feb 9, 2008 8:00 pm US/Central
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Teacher May Be Fired After Duct Taping Student
Teacher Duct Taped Student To Chair Because He Would Not Sit Down
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
A rookie Chicago Public Schools teacher was pulled out of the classroom this week after she tied a 9-year-old special education student into his chair with masking tape, supposedly because he wouldn't sit down, authorities said.
The teacher, who obtained her teaching credentials last June, had been working at Medgar Evers School, 9811 S. Lowe Ave., for a week at the time of the incident, a public schools spokesman said Thursday.
She was teaching a classroom of four or five special education students Tuesday when one child would not sit down, police and CPS officials said.
The teacher then wrapped masking tape around the child's body to restrain him to the chair, said CPS spokesman Michael Vaughn.
"There's no justification for that,'' Vaughn said. "If you need help, ask for help.''
The student was restrained for several minutes before he managed to wiggle free, Vaughn said.
Three students reported the incident to a counselor, he said, and police and the Department of Children and Family Services were called.
By the time officers arrived at the school Wednesday, classes were no longer in session. However, they found the student in a relative's home and interviewed him there, said Police Department spokeswoman Monique Bond. The case has been assigned to the police Special Victims Unit, she said.
CPS officials have talked to the principal and the teacher, Vaughn said, and the teacher was told Wednesday not to report back to school.
"It appears the allegations will be substantiated and we will fire her,'' Vaughn said.
In a statement Saturday, the Medgar Evers parent-teacher association expressed disappointment at the situation.
"The parents of Medgar Evers hold our administrators, faculty and staff to a high standard. This standard has always been upheld in our school. Parents here at Evers school have a close relationship will all faculty and staff," PTA officials wrote in a statement. "At no time have we ever been disappointed in their judgment. It is unfortunate that an outsider has broken our circle of trust."
The teacher received an elementary teaching certificate and an endorsement as a learning behavior specialist in June 2007, Vaughn said. She received a substitute teacher certificate in July of 2006, and has been working for CPS since 2006, he said.
The STNG Wire contributed to this report.
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