One Bad (Teacher) Apple can Spoil the Entire Bunch

I do not know Wendy Portillo personally. 

Nor do I know the parents of Morningside Elementary School in Port St. Lucie, Florida.

But what I DO know is that in my opinion Ms. Portillo should never see the inside of a classroom again. No matter what her School Board says. No matter what the parents of Morningside Elementary School or her close friends and family say. The School Board is wrong, and the Superintendent is right. So was the judge.

Ms. Portillo, a teacher of 12 years, in a Survivor-like moment, allowed an entire classroom of Kindergarteners to vote out loud to have their classmate removed from the classroom after they each got a chance to tell him how his behavior had upset them.

Oh, and she marked the votes on the whiteboard with each tally. Nice touch. The vote was 14-2 to remove him. Alex spent the rest of the day in the Nurse's office. He has never returned to Morningside Elementary.

That child, Alex Barton, a six year old at the time, was in the process of being officially diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, a form of high-functioning Autism that has received lots of media attention as of late. 

There had to be some paperwork being generated about this child. Administration or at the very least the ESE (Exceptional Student Education) staff had to have been aware of Alex's situation and impending diagnosis (they were). A county Behavioral Specialist had to have been aware of Alex's behaviors and possibly (probably?) could have consulted with the teacher regarding the child instead of sending in a School Resource Officer. This could not have been the first time Alex had acted out in class. (it wasn't)

The actions Ms. Portillo executed are the hallmark of a teacher who has reached the end of her rope with a student, and in a moment of frustration acted out without thinking about the ramifications of her actions, and how far-reaching and detrimental on many levels this decision was to all of her students.

I bet you are wondering about my knowledge in regards to that ESE stuff. I'm very familiar with the educational system in the state of Florida. I'm also the parent of a mainstreamed student with Asperger's Syndrome who will attend high school in the Fall. He has been mainstreamed since Kindergarten.

So I'm well versed in how the system works (and sometimes how it doesn't). I am also very aware of the frustrations of teachers who have children who are diagnosed as well as undiagnosed in their classrooms and the lack of adequate supports. I feel their pain, and work very hard to assist the teacher (and now teachers!) in ways to help my son and others work within the confines of social and class expectations. Sometimes we are successful. Sometimes we are not. All of it requires the support of the school, the teacher, the ESE Team, and the support staff. Every one of them plays a very important part.

I agree when someone like Queen Townsend, a past Principal of Morningside Elementary in a news article says “We must ensure that the disruptions that (teachers) can’t handle will be handled by someone else, so they are free to teach.” (The incident) should not have occurred and it must be made so it never happens again.”

But that is still no excuse. And who does Ms. Townsend mean by "someone else" in her statement? Also, "free to teach"? She used to be an Administrator, and it boggles my mind as to how she can make such statements like that to a media outlet. It suggests that she felt Alex didn't belong in Ms. Portillo's class. It gives the impression that even she would not have known whom to turn to to help this child. It makes me think that she is not familiar with Special Education and Mainstreaming and Inclusion in schools. Or, it makes me think she does not want to know.

And that scares me. 

It should scare you, too. What scares me even more is that she quite simply does not know. Nor might she have when she was a Principal. Nor did it appear the staff at Morningside Elementary. The county did, because the ESE director under oath stated that "a team of educators determined Alex should be in a general education classroom 100 percent of the time, with some support from teacher's aides or other help." So someone was aware of Alex's needs. Usually the teacher is made aware with a 504 Plan or an IEP. (Alex had an IEP.) Was Ms. Portillo? Did she read his paperwork? Did she do her homework? (it has been documented that Ms. Portillo attended the IEP meetings)

We expect our schools to know how to protect our children. We also expect our teachers to teach our children, no matter what issues may arise with them. We also expect them to see when a child is in crisis, have a game plan, and know who to talk to and how to help them. As a parent with a child on the spectrum, those things are vitally important. Without those things, our children and your children risk not achieving success in school, and then possibly later in life. 

Mrs. Barton expected that from her school. She did not receive it. Neither did Alex.

Articles have been written about how the staff and the parents of this school have closed ranks and shown support. Letters have been written, pleas have been made, and on Wednesday, June 11, 2009 the Port St. Lucie School Board allowed Ms. Portillo to keep her professional contract with the county. She will also be allowed to keep her tenure. She will also be on an Annual Contract; which means she could be dropped as a teacher for the next school year after her probation from the classroom expires in November 2009 due to budget cuts or other related reasons. 

Ms. Portillo has, as of this writing, issued no apology to this child, or to his family. She has said that she hopes Alex "will get the help he needs". Nothing more. Certainly more can and should have been said, wouldn't you agree?

The bottom line is this: Here in Florida classrooms are moving more toward an Inclusion model; allowing for special education students to be mixed in with the regular school population in classrooms. As young children with Autism may not be recognized and/or officially diagnosed until much later in their educational careers, could it be a possibility that this could happen again? 

Absolutely.

Could this happen again in a class taught by Ms. Portillo? 

Absoutely.  

Before Ms.Portillo enters a classroom again I hope that she will take this opportunity to educate herself about Special Education students who will enter the mainstream. Because they are coming. More importantly, they are here right now. The clock is ticking. 

We have been lucky that the past three years the public middle school my son has attended has a staff who knows about the laws and is ready, willing, and able to help each and every child they service. We have been extremely lucky and diligent in regards to our son's schooling. It also bears mentioning that many counties here in FL are set up very similarly, so the "services" she had access (or lack of access) to, we do as well. The shortfalls have not deterred our schools our son has attended. Those same shortfalls should not have deterred Morningside Elementary School in providing Alex Barton a quality education. It's actually required by Federal law. 

It takes an entire village to raise a child. 

It only takes one teacher to ruin the reputation of a school. And a child's future. 

Ms. Portillo did both. And she isn't even sorry.

She should be.

An original Deep South Moms post.

When Shash is not leading the charge about advocating for Special Needs children, she's writing about breaking up the latest sibling fight and keeping what little shred of sanity she has left at Diary of a Crazed Mommy.