That's quite a story, right? It made you angry to even consider something like that could happen.
Well, something just like that may have actually happened here in Fairfield. As usual, Fairfield City Schools has a lot of explaining it should do to this community, but will get to skate around justice.
You may remember allegations of an incident which occurred on October 16, 2018 at Fairfield East Elementary, involving art teacher Annie King. It is alleged she slapped a blind special needs student on that day last year. You can read the Fox 19 story about what happened here.
There is a compelling 2 minute video about the incident that is worth watching. We've copied and pasted the text for you as well. Pay special attention to the statement from the district below, in italics.
A school is investigating after an elementary school teacher was accused of slapping a student across the face last week.
After a long day at work as a nurse Michelle Lewis can't wait to get home to her three children. Her 10-year-old boy, Shawn, is visually impaired and has a brain disorder.
“I’m his protector. What vision he doesn’t have, I make up for that. I am his eyes. So, it hurts to know that I can’t even send my children my school,” said Lewis, while playing Connect Four with her kids.
Lewis says she got a call from the principal at Fairfield Elementary East saying that her son was hit by a teacher after a behavioral episode.
"My son states that she was taking him to the ground and he bit her on her arm and she let go, walked beside him and smacked him in the face," said Lewis.
FOX19 is not naming the teacher because she hasn't been charged. Lewis did file a report with the Fairfield Township Police Department hoping to keep the teacher away from children in the future.
“He’s been through so much and he’s only 10. I’ve been there to protect him through this whole ... and it’s frustrating cause I don’t hit my children,” said Lewis, as tears rolled down her face.
A single mother of three who works as a nurse at a retirement home, Lewis doesn't understand how anyone could hurt a vulnerable human-being. FOX19 reached out to the school for comment and was told children services is investigating the teacher. The superintendent e-mailed the following statement:
The district became aware of an alleged incident involving a teacher and a student at Fairfield East Elementary on Tuesday, October 16, 2018. After a preliminary investigation, the teacher was placed on administrative leave on Wednesday, October 17, 2018. The district also reported the allegation to Children’s Services. The teacher will stay on administrative leave while Children’s Services completes their investigation. Once the investigation by Children’s Services is complete, the district will finish its investigation and take appropriate action.
Lewis says the teacher wasn't placed on leave immediately.
“This woman she could have done anything to my children coming back the next day not knowing if she was going to lose everything," Lewis said. “Why wasn’t she escorted off of the premises? why was she still there?”
Lewis was hesitant to share her story with FOX19 but did it anyway hoping to send a message.
"This is serious. This isn't to be overlooked. You don't do any child like that," she said.
Shawn is no longer attending school at Fairfield East Elementary.
Sad, isn't it? It is always sad when a child is assaulted by an adult. The tale is particular sad when you consider the student involved is visually impaired with special needs. How terrifying it must have been for that youth to be getting slapped and not able to see who was doing it, why, or where to even defend yourself from the blows.
Before we go any further about this incident or what we discovered over the course of our investigation, lets get one thing straight. At no time has anyone at Fairfield City Schools denied that the teacher in question slapped that special needs student. Never.
If the incident did not happen, then why has the district never disputed these claims? It seems a simple enough thing to do if the incident didn't happen. When wrongly accused, most innocent people tend to profess it. Nobody at Fairfield has in this case, however. Feel free to draw any conclusions from that you like.
Fairfield City Schools has a lot to explain to the community in this incident. The first thing they need to explain is why Fairfield East Art teacher Annie King wasn't suspended until the evening of October 17, 2018 based on allegations she slapped a student the previous day, October 16.
We know this is true based on three documents you can see below for yourself. You can see the police report narrative first, which attests to the fact the incident took place October 16. The second document is an e-mail to Annie King from East Elementary Principal Paige Gillespie, and the third image is the actual attachment. As you can see, the letter suspends Ms. King, and was sent at 8:35 PM, October 17th, 2018.
How could a teacher accused of striking a child be permitted to finish out the day in a classroom around your kids? How in the hell would they permitted back into the classroom for the entire next day? How does that happen? Fairfield City Schools has some serious explaining to do.
A few days after news of this slapping incident found it's way into the news headlines (A place Fairfield has grown all too familiar with), we reached out to Superintendent Billy Smith for any information on the incident. You can read that e-mail exchange below, as Butler County Children's Services took over the investigation. Take special notice of where Fairfield vows to take "appropriate action" with the employee involved. You'll read in a few paragraphs what "appropriate action" means.
The story about what happened between teacher Annie King and the special needs student went quiet for several weeks until the December 20, 2018 Board of Education meeting. As you can see from the minutes excerpt below, it was on that date that Fairfield East art teacher Annie King retired, effective February 14th, 2019. See for yourself.
So what was the point of Annie King's retirement being approved on December 20th, but not effective until February 14th? What happened between the date of the incident, October 16th, and the December 20th board of education meeting?
We still don''t know that. We likely never will know that. But we do know Annie King was paid regularly even while suspended (there's your "appropriate action" we mentioned a few paragraphs ago). Yes, we know that from her pay stubs. Check it out:
We're not entirely clear if Annie King ever came off suspension. It is our understanding that she did not. Fairfield City Schools was not forthcoming with those answers. But she was certainly still under suspension when we exchanged emails with Superintendent Smith on November 1st.
Look those documents over that are above and soak them in. Every two weeks, someone accused - and who never denied - having slapped a student was possibly on suspension and still collecting $3141 from the taxpayers of this community. That culminated in a lump sum payout of some kind for over $12,000 on March 1st.
That's good work if you can get it. Most of Fairfield's taxpayers who are support this injustice can't get work like that.
Our group did finally try in the Spring and Summer of 2019 to get an answer to a very easy, basic, fundamental question:
Did Fairfield East art teacher Annie King slap a special needs student on October 16, 2018?
Seems like an easy yes or no question. Most businesses would know and be able to confirm or deny if one of it's employees slapped a customer or not. It is a question with only two possible answers. Yes, the student was slapped. No, the student was not slapped.
The question we posed was beyond the ability of Fairfield City Schools to answer, however, as this email exchange can attest to:
(Notice how Mr. Smith confirms the teacher retired, effective February 14th, 2019. No other teacher retired, effective that date, save Annie King).
Fairfield City Schools is unable or unwilling to tell this community if a teacher slapped a blind child or not. That is sick. It is very sad too. But it goes beyond just being sad or even sick. It is downright pathetic, the lack of transparency the school district has with our community. And when you look at those pay stubs, it adds insult to injury.
So what of the findings by Butler County Children's Services, the agency which investigated the incident? We requested those in writing. Below you can read where Butler County also says that the community has no right to know if a teacher slapped a student.
You go to work everyday and earn a paycheck. Many of you live paycheck to paycheck while paying taxes so organizations like Fairfield City Schools can teach your children, and agencies like Butler County Children's Services can ensure they are well treated and safe. You also go to work everyday to earn a paycheck to cover the taxes so folks like Annie King can earn a salary of $74,336 a year.
You held up your end of the bargain, taxpayer. You punched the time clock, paid your taxes and honored the implied agreement you have with local institutions that are supposed to exist to improve the lives of our kids. As usual, Fairfield City Schools has not returned the same courtesy. To make matters worse, Butler County Children's Services has also failed the community in this story.
Fairfield City Schools had a duty to act in loco parentis and safeguard a child. That duty is especially vital when the student has special needs. But what happened instead? The child was allegedly attacked by the very adult charged with safeguarding him. There were no criminal charges. No one was fired or demoted. No, the teacher accused rode off into the sunset in retirement with $43,000 in earnings between October and February.
There is no justice in that. To make matters worse, children's services and the school district say nobody even has a right to know if the child was assaulted or not. How can we have trust in local institutions when they behave in this way?
One of the cardinal rules we all learned in grade school was that you should keep your hands to yourself. It is really one of the founding principles of our laws. Keep your hands to yourself. When your hands touch someone else, you've crossed a line.
As usual, Fairfield City Schools has crossed the line. They have failed our community and our kids. At no point in this story could any reasonable person point to Fairfield and say they were proud of our community's schools. When is there going to be change, and when will there be some accountability?
