                                ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times

DATE: Friday, February 28, 1997              TAG: 9702280005
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: C-1  EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER

AIDE'S LICENSE REVOCATION SOUGHT

SOME PARENTS have questioned why school officials did not report suspected child abuse to the Department of Social Services immediately after the William Byrd Middle School incident.

The Roanoke County School Board will ask the state to revoke the teaching license of a teacher's aide who was convicted of assaulting a special education student.

After a one-hour closed meeting Thursday night with County Commonwealth's Attorney Skip Burkart, the board asked school officials to request that the state Department of Education revoke John Peters' license.

Peters is a certified English teacher, but he was working as an aide in March 1996, when the incident occurred at William Byrd Middle School.

Peters pleaded guilty to striking the 14-year-old student on the buttocks, but he denied that he struck him on the face. Some school employees testified, however, that they saw marks on the boy's face after they heard Peters slap him in a bathroom.

Burkart told the board that Peters was the only school employee who violated the law in the incident.

Asked by board member Jerry Canada after the closed session whether any other employees had violated the law in the incident, Burkart said no.

Board member Thomas Leggette objected to the closed meeting, saying he saw no reason to exclude the public because Peters has already been convicted and is no longer working for the school system. Peters resigned the day after the incident.

The stated purpose of the closed session was to "discuss personnel involved in an incident at William Byrd Middle School."

Leggette said he saw no need for secrecy because details of the case were made public during the trial. If the board was going to discuss the performance of any particular school employee in the case, he said, it could go into closed session at that point.

"I see no reason to cover all of it in a closed session," Leggette said, but the other four board members voted to bar the public.

Leggette attended the closed session, but he dissented on a vote after the meeting certifying that the board had discussed only matters that are permitted by the state's Freedom of Information Act.

Leggette said he didn't mean to imply that other board members had violated the FOI Act, but he said that portions of the closed meeting dealt with testimony from the trial. With Peters no longer a school employee, he said, he's not sure the board should be discussing the issues in the case in closed session.

But the School Board's attorneys said they thought the closed session complied with the FOI Act.

Some parents of special education students have suggested that Peters should have been charged with child abuse. They have also questioned why school officials did not report suspected child abuse to the Department of Social Services immediately after the incident.

Burkart said that based on the facts in the case, it appears that assault and battery was the most appropriate charge.

When the case was referred to his office, Burkart said Peters had been charged with assault and battery. As the prosecutor, he said he didn't place the charge.

He said authorities can't file multiple charges against a person for the same incident, and that child abuse is not always as clear as assault and battery in such cases.

Since the incident, school officials have developed a policy with guidelines for school administrators to investigate any form of corporal punishment and report it to social services.

But Lisa Merrill, mother of a special education student and former candidate for the School Board, said the policy should be broadened to include assault and battery, child abuse and any striking of students by school employees.

By limiting the policy to corporal punishment, which is prohibited by state law, Merrill said, the schools would be forcing parents to forgo claims in cases when their children had been abused or assaulted.

Leggette agreed that the policy should be expanded to cover assaults and striking of students other than corporal punishment.

Chairman Michael Stovall said school officials will develop separate policies for investigating and reporting assaults, child abuse and similar complaints.

Also Thursday night, the board was urged to make background checks on all teacher's aides and other paraprofessionals who work with special education students.

The county's Special Education Advisory Committee wants the schools to determine whether applicants have police or court records before they are employed.

The committee has also recommended that aides be hired before the school year begins and that parents be involved in interviewing them.

Employing aides earlier would give them time to learn students' needs and get any training that might be necessary to work with a child, the committee said.

The committee, which includes parents of children with disabilities, has made nearly 20 recommendations for improvements in the county's special education program.

In a report to school officials, the committee proposed that the county increase salaries and fringe benefits for aides and paraprofessionals who work daily with children with disabilities.

It suggested that bonuses or other incentives be offered to the aides to improve their training.

The advisory committee also wants the county to develop a plan for placing more students with disabilities in regular classrooms.

Many disabled children are not being given the opportunity to be educated in regular classes, the committee's report said, and many children who are placed in regular classes are not receiving adequate support services.

The report recommended that the county hire an "experienced inclusion specialist immediately" to promote inclusion of more special education students in regular classes.

The committee also wants the county to mandate training for all regular classroom teachers in the diagnosis and care of children with disabilities.

The Roanoke County School Board will ask the state to revoke the license of a teacher's aide who was convicted of assaulting a special education student.

After a one-hour closed meeting Thursday night with county Commonwealth's Attorney Skip Burkart, the board asked school officials to request that the state Department of Education revoke John Peters' license.

Peters is a certified English teacher, but he was working as an aide in March 1996, when the incident occurred at William Byrd Middle School.

Burkart told the board that Peters was the only school employee who violated the law in the incident.

Asked by board member Jerry Canada after the closed session whether any other employees had violated the law in the incident, Burkart said no.

Board member Thomas Leggette objected to the closed meeting, saying he saw no reason to exclude the public, because Peters has already been convicted and no longer works for the school system. Peters resigned the day after the incident.

The stated purpose of the closed session was to "discuss personnel involved in an incident at William Byrd Middle School."

Leggette said he saw no need for secrecy because details of the case were made public during the trial. If the board were going to discuss the performance of any particular school employee in the case, he said, it could go into closed session at that point.

"I see no reason to cover all of it in a closed session," Leggette said, but the other four board members voted to bar the public.

Leggette attended the closed session, but he dissented on a vote after the meeting certifying that the board had discussed only matters permitted by the state's Freedom of Information Act.

But the School Board's attorneys said they thought the closed session complied with the FOI Act.

Burkart said that based on the facts in the case, it appears that assault and battery was the most appropriate charge.

When the case was referred to his office, Burkart said Peters had been charged with assault and battery. As the prosecutor, he said he didn't place the charge.

He said authorities can't file multiple charges against a person for the same incident and that child abuse is not always as clear as assault and battery in such cases.

Since the incident, school officials have developed a policy that says school administrators must investigate any form of corporal punishment and report it to social services.

Leggette agreed that the policy should be expanded to cover assaults and other striking of students other than corporal punishment.

Chairman Michael Stovall said school officials would develop separate policies for investigating and reporting assaults, child abuse and similar complaints.

Also Thursday night, the board was urged to make background checks on all teacher's aides and other paraprofessionals who work with special education students.

The county's Special Education Advisory Committee wants the schools to determine whether applicants have police records before they are employed.

The committee also has recommended that aides be hired before the school year begins and that parents be involved in interviewing them.

Employing aides earlier would give them time to learn students' needs and get any training that might be necessary to work with them, the committee said.