Teacher placed on leave last year back in classroom

By ETHAN HARTLEY
Posted 8/29/19

By ETHAN HARTLEY An Oakland Beach Elementary first grade teacher who filed a lawsuit against the Warwick School Department claiming she was left unsupported in a co-taught classroom when the special education certified teacher missed 56 days of school

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

E-mail
Password
Log in

Teacher placed on leave last year back in classroom

Posted

An Oakland Beach Elementary first grade teacher who filed a lawsuit against the Warwick School Department claiming she was left unsupported in a co-taught classroom when the special education certified teacher missed 56 days of school and was subsequently placed on administrative leave after she complained to the state Department of Education, will return to the classroom this year, the Beacon has learned.

Mary Chisholm, a teacher with nearly 30 years of experience in Warwick, filed the lawsuit in district court this past April, seeking back pay and compensatory damages for emotional pain, suffering and inconvenience, mental anguish and loss of enjoyment of life.

Online court records accessed Wednesday do not show this case as being active, and Chisholm did not respond to a request for comment on this story. Superintendent Philip Thornton and School Committee Chairwoman Karen Bachus declined to comment on the story due to it being a personnel matter.

The exact reason for Chisholm’s removal from the classroom cannot be confirmed, but the lawsuit filing indicates that it occurred after Chisholm sent a formal complaint to RIDE outlining the district’s failure to schedule a special education certified substitute in her co-taught classroom following the extended absence of the primary special education teacher.

The suit further documented that school Human Resources Director Katherine Duncanson told Chisholm she was being put on leave following two separate parties filing complaints against her to the Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) – which the suit claims were “fabricated.”

Now it is unclear what process occurred internally that allowed Chisholm to return to her first-grade classroom. The School Committee did not take any votes on the matter during its public session last week.

Following the story that ran in the Beacon covering the issue in May, a large group of supporters formed to advocate for Chisholm’s reinstatement. Advocates among that group include people like Jammie Boullier, parent of a first grader in Chisholm’s classroom who also made a formal complaint to RIDE that the lack of special education support in the classroom during the 2018-19 school year resulted in her daughter, who has an IEP, missing out on over 200 hours of specialized education time.

That complaint, filed on May 7, came back in Boullier’s favor on July 2, ruling that “Warwick failed to provide a certified special education substitute teacher in [the child’s] classroom for numerous days beginning on 9/4/18. Therefore, [she] did not receive services as outlined in her IEP.”

In addition to ordering the district to make up those hours to the Boullier family, RIDE ordered Warwick to “adopt and implement a plan to assure that all students receive IEP services provided by certified substitute special education teachers when the assigned special education teacher is absent. This plan will include notification to families, within 10 school days, in the case of long-term absences and a statement of owed compensatory hours.”

The complaint outlined how the assigned special education teacher was absent for 56 days between Sept. 4, 2018 and March 7, 2019. Despite this extended absence, the RIDE report states in its findings that a dedicated substitute certified in special education was not brought in until March 5.

Comments

2 comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here

  • tamiw31

    Where is the justice and “loss of enjoyment of life” our family has suffered since the year 2012 when she verbally abused children and belittled them in the classroom and created self doubt in my innocent daughter? Then seven years later when my daughter and others came forward and were brave enough to tell their stories they were heckled by grown adults in a display of pure immaturity from those who wore red shorts! Shame on the corrupt school system and the cowards who have made this teacher u touchable. As a family, we STILL suffer the consequences of her arrogance and utter inability to be a positive role model for children. Not sure who she is protected by but my family will forever suffer the consequences of her poor choices and inadequacies to be a sufficient and nurturing teacher. All I have to say is : DAFA

    Thursday, August 29, 2019 Report this

  • Justanidiot

    da union thugs will be by to re edumacate you sometimes soon

    Friday, August 30, 2019 Report this