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GET MAD!!! WRITE AN EMAIL!
- May 26, 2008 at 10:26 PM
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- Comments (4) Total Views (125) Everyone can see this journal post.
Hi Mommas! I just read this, it is currently the #2 most popular journal post. After I read it I felt nauseated and completely infuriated! I want everyone to read it, forward it and send an email to the school. This is completely unacceptable! This teacher needs to be held accountable! I can't even imagine how traumatized this little boy is right now!
Thank you all for reading and doing the right thing, which I know you will!!!
~Jannelle
I got this from another CafeMom's journal post, but I also googled "Melissa Barton Port St. Lucie" and this story popped up on several news sites. I also got the email address for the teacher (portillow@stlucie.k12.fl.us) and her principal (cullym@stlucie.k12.fl.us). Then I wrote them both and expressed my extreme shock and anger at this teacher's actions.
The school's website is www.stlucie.k12.fl.us/mse
Teacher lets Morningside students vote out classmate, 5
PORT ST. LUCIE — Melissa Barton said she is considering legal action after her son's kindergarten teacher led his classmates to vote him out of class.
After each classmate was allowed to say what they didn't like about Barton's 5-year-old son, Alex, his Morningside Elementary teacher Wendy Portillo said they were going to take a vote, Barton said.
By a 14 to 2 margin, the students voted Alex — who is in the process of being diagnosed with autism — out of the class.
Melissa Barton filed a complaint with Morningside's school resource officer, who investigated the matter, Port St. Lucie Department spokeswoman Michelle Steele said. But the state attorney's office concluded the matter did not meet the criteria for emotional child abuse, so no criminal charges will be filed, Steele said.
Port St. Lucie Police no longer are investigating, but police officials are documenting the complaint, she said.
Steele said the teacher confirmed the incident took place.
Portillo could not be reached for comment Friday.
Steele said the boy had been sent to the principal's office because of disciplinary issues. When he returned, Portillo made him go to the front of the room as a form of punishment, she said.
Barton said her son is in the process of being diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, a type of high-functioning autism. Alex began the testing process in February at the suggestion of Morningside Principal Marcia Cully.
Children diagnosed with Asperger's often exhibit social isolation and eccentric behavior..
Alex has had disciplinary issues because of his disability, Barton said. After the family moved into the area and Alex and his sibling arrived at the school in January, Alex spent much of the time in the principal's office, she said.
He also had problems at his last school, but he did not have issues during his two years of preschool, Barton said.
School and district officials have met with Barton and her son to create an individual education plan to address his difficulties, she said. Portillo attended these meetings, Barton said.
Barton said after the vote, Portillo asked Alex how he felt.
"He said, 'I feel sad,' " Barton said.
Alex left the classroom and spent the rest of the day in the nurse's office, she said.
Barton said when she came to pick up her son at the school Wednesday, he was leaving the nurse's office.
"He was shaken up," she said.
Barton said the nurse told her to talk with Portillo, who told her what happened.
Alex hasn't been back to school since then, and Barton said he won't be returning. He starts screaming when she brings him with her to drop off his sibling at school.
Thursday night, his mother heard him saying "I'm not special" over and over.
Barton said Alex is reliving the incident.
The other students said he was "disgusting" and "annoying," Barton said.
"He was incredibly upset," Barton said. "The only friend he has ever made in his life was forced to do this."
St. Lucie School's spokeswoman Janice Karst said the district is investigating the incident, but could not make any further comment.
Vern Melvin, Department of Children and Families circuit administrator, confirmed the agency is investigating an allegation of abuse at Morningside but said he could not elaborate.
Comments:
St. Lucie County School district reassigns teacher after voting incident
A Morningside Elementary kindergarten teacher had students vote out another student from class
Autistic boy voted out of class
. LUCIE — St. Lucie County School District officials removed the Morningside Elementary kindergarten teacher who had students vote last week whether a 5-year-old should be allowed to stay in class from her teaching position pending an investigation.
The incident has gained national attention, and network news organizations have aired reports on the story. Melissa Barton, the mother of 5-year-old Alex Barton, was interviewed live on CBS's The Early Show on Tuesday.
Barton and Port St. Lucie Police Department officials said teacher Wendy Portillo made Alex stand in front of the room while his classmates told him what bothered them about him. Because the class was studying tallies and vote-taking, Portillo then led a class vote as to whether Alex should be allowed to stay in the class.
Alex was voted out, by a 14 to 2 margin. He spent the rest of the day in the nurse's office and was upset when Barton picked him up after school.
Alex hasn't been back to the school since Wednesday, when the vote occurred."He's doing a little better," said Barton on Tuesday.
Barton said Tuesday morning Alex was officially diagnosed with an autism-spectrum disorder and attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD. He is not in school, but he misses the one friend he made in the classroom since he moved to the school in January, she said.
And the class vote didn't just affect Alex.
His friend and classmate Spencer Clawson has been upset by what happened, Spencer's mother Stacie Clawson said. Clawson said she talked with her 6-year-old son after she heard about the incident.
She said she asked him to close his eyes and imagine how he would feel if this happened to him. As he did, his face changed, Clawson said.
"He said, 'That was mean,'" Clawson said.
Clawson said Spencer originally voted to keep Alex in class. But his teacher pressed him further and asked if he was sure. So Spencer reluctantly agreed to change his vote.
"He's a good boy. He doesn't want to defy authority," Clawson said.
Clawson said the class had been learning about voting, which was why there was a vote taken. But she said she felt sad about what happened to Alex.
"It made me sick to my stomach. It's horrifying," she said.
Clawson said the students might not have realized what they were doing because they were focusing on what Portillo said was the lesson.
"Spencer said about the voting: 'It wasn't real, she was just telling us about voting,'" Clawson said.
But Iowa-based author Gail Pursell Elliott said what happened sounds like "mobbing," which involves group public humiliation and embarrassment.
"The children in that class learned how to mob someone — from the teacher," said Elliott, who wrote "School Mobbing and Emotional Abuse." "This type of thing shatters a person's self-esteem."
Meanwhile, St. Lucie County Schools are investigating the incident.
District officials said Portillo — who has been a teacher for 12 years, nine at Morningside — was reassigned to the district offices. Portillo has spent most of her time as a kindergarten teacher, but has taught pre-kindergarten as well, according to district records. Portillo's brother was killed in the World Trade Center attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
St. Lucie County Schools spokeswoman Janice Karst said the investigation could take up to two weeks to complete.
Schools Superintendent Michael Lannon said the district has to follow its policies and procedures and investigate the matter. If the allegations are true, the teacher could be fired, Lannon said.
"Our whole focus is about the child. We are child advocates," Lannon said. "We do not hold children to ridicule or embarrassment."
Barton said she thinks Portillo should be fired.
"She has no business being near children at all," she said.
As to the news of Portillo being reassigned, Barton responded, "That's just a slap in the face."
WPTV contributed to this report.
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