Eric Cheng
Current Event Posting #4
Topic: Education
Title: Parents of special needs students say school district covered up abuse
Author: Julie Peterson,
Publication:
Date of Publication: May 15th, 2012 05:01 PM ET
Length of Article: 1534 words
Parents of special needs students say school district covered up abuse. It was just another day at school for special needs student Alex Williams. Recently released court documents say Alex was routinely abused by teacher Melanie Pickens at Atlanta-area Hopewell Middle School between 2006-2007. Despite extensive abuse of Alex and other students that was substantiated by a Fulton County School district investigation in 2007, no charges have been filed against teacher Melanie Pickens or then-Principal Frances Boyd. There could've been a child abuse filed with many reports by teachers, school nurses, and staff, would automatically result in criminal charges but only the teachers would. Back in 2004, special needs teacher Melanie Pickens taught a class of middle school students. Pickens has denied the abuse, and Boyd has stated that she actually reported the abuse to the Fulton County School District’s Personnel department and was told not to fire Pickens. The Fulton County School District was ordered to pay for 5 years of special instruction and therapies for now 19-year-old Alex Williams to help him. Avossa says there are new procedures in place to keep abuse allegations from going unnoticed. “We decided to develop a more robust reporting process so that we ensure that there’s no single point of failure,” says Avossa. “So you report it to the principal, you report it to HR, you report it to the state. ” He adds that in the instance of principal Frances Boyd, “People reported it to the principal allegedly, and that person didn’t act on it the way that they needed to. The school had replaced the current superintendent with someone new. District Attorney Paul Howard’s office and Fulton County school police tell CNN the school police continue to collect background – eight years after the substantiated abuse began.
Parents of special needs students say school district covered up abuse. It was just another day at school for special needs student Alex Williams. Recently released court documents say Alex was routinely abused by teacher Melanie Pickens at Atlanta-area Hopewell Middle School between 2006-2007. Despite extensive abuse of Alex and other students that was substantiated by a Fulton County School district investigation in 2007, no charges have been filed against teacher Melanie Pickens or then-Principal Frances Boyd. There could've been a child abuse filed with many reports by teachers, school nurses, and staff, would automatically result in criminal charges but only the teachers would. Back in 2004, special needs teacher Melanie Pickens taught a class of middle school students. Pickens has denied the abuse, and Boyd has stated that she actually reported the abuse to the Fulton County School District’s Personnel department and was told not to fire Pickens. The Fulton County School District was ordered to pay for 5 years of special instruction and therapies for now 19-year-old Alex Williams to help him. Avossa says there are new procedures in place to keep abuse allegations from going unnoticed. “We decided to develop a more robust reporting process so that we ensure that there’s no single point of failure,” says Avossa. “So you report it to the principal, you report it to HR, you report it to the state. ” He adds that in the instance of principal Frances Boyd, “People reported it to the principal allegedly, and that person didn’t act on it the way that they needed to. The school had replaced the current superintendent with someone new. District Attorney Paul Howard’s office and Fulton County school police tell CNN the school police continue to collect background – eight years after the substantiated abuse began.
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