Two Alabama teachers have been placed on administrative leave after a hidden tape recorder caught them verbally abusing a student with cerebral palsy.
Melisha Salinas could tell her 10-year-old son, Jose, was unhappy at school. When another student told her that Jose’s teacher had been “mean” to Jose, she decided to plant a tape recorder in her son’s wheelchair. What she allegedly caught on tape proved disturbing.
“You drooled on the paper,” a male’s voice on the recorder says – allegedly that of teacher’s aide Drew Faircloth. “That’s disgusting.”
The next voice – allegedly that of full-time special education teacher Alicia Brown – says, “Why is my paper wet? Look at me and answer. That’s not an answer. That’s not even a word.”
Jose’s mother took the recordings, taken over three days, to the school district. The district put both employees on leave, but allowed them back soon afterward. That was when, according to news reports, Melisha decided to take her recordings to the press. In response, the school district placed both employees on administrative leave again.
If the voices of those abusing Jose are those of the two school employees in question, there is reason for outrage. We place a significant amount of trust in special education teachers. If such employees cannot exercise compassion when dealing with children like Jose, they should not be working in jobs that require such empathy.
Cappolino Dodd Krebs, LLP – cerebral palsy lawyers
