BARNEGAT – A staff-reported incident involving a special education classroom has prompted an internal investigation and administrative leave for five staff members in the Barnegat Township School District.
In a taped interview with her attorney, Bradley Flynn of Montgomery Law, Kasi Spinelli described how she learned that her 8-year-old daughter with special needs had been bound with tape at school on more than one occasion.
Spinelli said she received a call from a director within the school district who said they were doing an investigation because of an “inappropriate use of tape.” Confused, Spinelli asked for clarification and the director informed her that he really didn’t understand either. He assured her she’d learn everything after the conclusion of the investigation.
Subsequently, someone identifying himself as being with the Barnegat Township Police told Spinelli her daughter’s wrists had been taped. A half hour later, he called back to say tape had also been placed over her mouth. When Spinelli met with the detective the next day, she was shown photos from March 18 and 28. One showed her daughter’s mouth taped. Others showed her wrists and ankles bound. She was in different outfits, suggesting multiple incidents. One photo appeared to be taken from a more covert angle.
“I was told it was a joke and not used for restraint purposes,” she said. Spinelli claims she was later informed by police that the case was closed because “it wasn’t duct tape…it was blue painters tape.”
Spinelli said she has not heard back from the district since, other than a letter sent to all families on April 3. Superintendent Dr. Brian Latwis announced the district had launched an immediate investigation into staff members’ conduct.
The incident occurred in a classroom within the ACES (Autism Continuum of Educational Support) program, a specialized K–8 initiative housed in the Brackman Middle School. It reportedly took place on Friday, March 28, and was reported the following Monday, March 31 by a staff member who is not assigned to the program.
“Within minutes of it being reported, the administrators started to interview the staff,” said Latwis. “As soon as we concluded the interviews, we placed them all in administrative leave, including the individuals that we hadn’t had a chance to interview yet because they were not in on Monday.”
The school completed their interviews on Tuesday, and both the Barnegat Police Department and the Institutional Abuse Investigation Unit (IAIU), a child protective service unit under the Department of Children and Families (DCF), were also contacted and conducted investigations.
“The evidence that was brought forward to us that prompted an immediate investigation was absolutely not tolerated by the district. It was egregious,” Latwis stated. “As a parent and as a superintendent, I was outraged by what I saw.”
Latwis emphasized the staff receives training in “Handle with Care,” a behavior management system, to appropriately manage students with behavioral challenges. “We do train our staff in appropriate ways to de-escalate these types of things, and then if they have to protect the child that’s going to harm themselves or others – which is what the threshold is for restraints – there is training that goes into it. There’s oversight.”
While not providing the specifics of the incident, Latwis said there are appropriate ways to restrain a child – as well as inappropriate ways to restrain a child. A teacher and four paraprofessionals were all placed on administrative leave as a result of the March 28 incident.
“We report even the most minor things to institutional abuse, because we want to have that third party tell us if it warrants anything more, or if they investigated, do we have to take action,” said Latwis, highlighting the district’s commitment to transparency.
Despite the training and safeguards in place, Latwis admitted the recent incident has shaken the district.
“We take a lot of pride in this program,” he said. “We invest heavily in training, oversight, and support. So, to see something like this happen is extremely disappointing.”
A family member of the child involved confirmed the incident to this newspaper but declined to discuss details on the record, stating they have retained legal counsel.
Police Chief Jason Carroll said that the local law enforcement agency did a preliminary investigation after they received a report of the incident.
“We found, in consultation with the Prosecutor’s Office, that there was not enough to necessitate charges,” said Carroll. “It was turned back to the school as a personnel issue.”
Board of Education President Scott Sarno said he learned of the incident from the superintendent on the day it was reported to him. “We waited for the administration to finish their investigation and once the report was finished on Wednesday, we reviewed it with our attorney and the superintendent,” Sarno shared.
The board immediately set a special meeting for tonight, April 9 at 6 p.m. at Barnegat High School. This was the first date available that complies with the sunshine law, which states that the public has to be notified of upcoming meetings within a certain time. The public has the opportunity to speak before board members enter executive session, which is a private portion of the meeting because personnel issues are not discussed in public. The agenda stated the identification numbers of those involved who were potentially slated for termination.
“As a board, we’ll be looking at every aspect of the program that led up to this point,” said Sarno. “We don’t run the schools; we just oversee that they’re run properly…Something like this is just absolutely unacceptable, and that they (the staff members) thought what they did and how they went about things – is just mind-boggling.”
Superintendent Dr. Brian Latwis (Photo by Stephanie Faughnan)
About The ACES Program
The ACES program is designed to support students with more severe forms of autism. It provides one location for a full range of services, including speech, occupational therapy, physical therapy, behavioral support, and dedicated case managers. Classrooms are secured with key-fob access doors for student safety and security.
“Parents asked for those secure doors, and the district agreed,” said Latwis. “Some students elope – that is, they run – and we wanted to ensure they’re safe from reaching the front door or beyond the parking lot.”
The program emphasizes integration with general education peers, with planned interactions and “buddy classrooms.”
One of the advantages of having the ACES students in the same space includes the opportunity to maximize specially trained staff. “It affords us the opportunity to move paraprofessionals to other classrooms in the event someone is out,” Latwis said. “And provide these students with the supports they need to the best of our ability.”
He added that the district had already planned to hold parent roundtables this summer about the ACES program but is now accelerating that timeline.
“We want to hear directly from families – what’s working, what’s not. And if changes need to be made, we’re not afraid to make them,” said Latwis. “We do our best as a district to partner with parents.”
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