Wayne Teacher Who Locked Special Needs Kids In Bathroom Fired

WAYNE, NJ — A district preschool teacher has been fired after an arbitrator ruled she should not return to the classroom after she locked special needs students in a bathroom as punishment last year.

Donna DeMarco was placed on administrative leave from her position at Packanack Elementary School on June 8, 2016 after she reportedly locked the students in the bathroom and called them "little ***holes" in front of other faculty members following an investigation by local officials.

Deborah M. Gaines reviewed the case under New Jersey's teacher tenure law. Gaines ruled that such "conduct is demonstrative of a lack of empathy for the students, which contributed to the determination she should not be returned to the classroom."

A district investigation revealed DeMarco referred to students in a derogatory manner and an investigator from the state's Division of Child Protection and Permanency said that while DeMarco's actions were not abuse, he concluded that she placed a student in harm's way by leaving him in the bathroom.

DeMarco said she placed the student in the bathroom as part of a de-escalation technique that was appropriate and that the bathroom was never locked, according to Gaines.

DeMarco argued that firing her "is too harsh a penalty" given her "long history of exemplary service."

Gaines citing a district policy prohibiting the use of "restraint against a child" as a form of punishment.

Parents of children in DeMarco's class were upset last year because they said school and district officials failed to notify them of the investigation until four weeks later. Gaines said the district "shared culpability in this matter."

"It would appear had the district notified parents of an investigation involving their children, the response from parents may have been very different," Gaines said in her ruling.

Related: Wayne Teacher Accused Of Locking Preschool Student In Bathroom, Parent Says

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