The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, April 29, 1998

Cobb 2nd-grader tied down to keep him in chair
By Steve Visser,

The Cobb County school district dismissed a substitute teacher Tuesday because she tied one student to a chair and taped another student's mouth, a school official said.

"She'll never teach in Cobb County again," said Jay Dillon. "It was a regrettable situation and we responded to it quickly."

The teacher was substituting in a second-grade class at Belmont Hills Elementary School in Smyrna. The school district isn't releasing the names of the students or the teacher, a substitute in the district since 1994, Dillon said.

Sherita Foster said her 8-year-old son, Lindsey, was the student who was tied to his chair, apparently because he kept standing up.

"If I had tied him to a chair and he would have gone to school and told them I had tied him to a chair, I would be facing charges, right or wrong," she said. "I told him he was wrong for not sitting down, but when she saw she couldn't control him, she should have taken him to the office."

The school district trains all substitute teachers and observes their performances for one full day, Dillon said. The district advises teachers not to touch students, he said.

The district reported the Friday incidents to the state Department of Family and Children Services on Tuesday, Dillon said.

Foster said her son told her his regular teacher allowed him to stand, and she said he may need to see a doctor if he can't sit still. The boy was tied down with a small backpack, she said.

The incident took place Friday. Foster said she contacted the school Monday morning after getting a message to call and was only told "a child" had been tied down.

She said the principal should have told her immediately that it was her child, which she learned from her son Monday afternoon. The principal said she didn't inform her because she didn't have all the facts, Foster said.

"I shouldn't have to find out from my son," she said. "I asked him why he didn't tell me over the weekend and he said he was afraid he would get into trouble. She embarrassed him."

"I told him he was wrong for not sitting down, but when she saw she couldn't control him, she should have taken him to the office.."


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