Mother of special-needs student questions why teacher accused of abuse was allowed into another classroom
A mother who claims her son with special needs was abused by a Wake County teacher says she's determined to make sure it never happens to another child.
The alleged abuse happened last year at Southeast Raleigh Magnet High School.
Ellen Kuo said Monday that she knew something was wrong when her son, Oscar, who has autism and is nonverbal, couldn't sleep. Last April, she said, Oscar, who's now 20, came home with a large bruise on his leg and had trouble walking.
"We sent him to the emergency room immediately," Kuo said.
Oscar's teacher, Marcus Campbell, had often complained about his behavior, Kuo said, and teaching assistants in his special education class emailed her photos of Oscar restrained in a chair in a storage closet.
Kuo's attorney, Stacey Gahagan, said Campbell had approval from administrators to clean out the closet and use it as a "calm down" space for disruptive special needs students.
But Kuo said Oscar was improperly restrained in a chair for hours at a time on multiple occasions.
"Oscar is not Oscar anymore," she said. "We don't know how long it may take him to recover – or if he can recover."
She said that she got no response when she alerted Southeast Raleigh High's principal and other administrators. Only after she hired a lawyer did the school district began investigating her abuse allegations, she said.
"I kept sending him to the school where we thought it was safe and caring for him," she said. "I was trusting them."
Tim Simmons, a Wake County Public School System spokesman, said the district was unaware of the accusations until Oscar's family took legal action. After that, the district ordered mandatory training for all teachers who work with special-needs students.
School board Chairman Keith Sutton said the board takes such allegations seriously and is making sure that all protocols and expectations for special-needs students are followed.
Last week, the board approved a $450,000 settlement with Oscar's family. But the family then learned that Campbell was teaching this school year at Northern Durham High School.
"It shouldn't be that you have allegations that are made like this against a teacher and a teacher can leave and go to a neighboring school and be employed," Gahagan said.
Campbell was suspended with pay Friday while the district investigates. A Durham Public Schools spokesman said that there have been no concerns regarding his conduct with students or staff.
Campbell referred questions to his attorney, Carena Lemons, who said Campbell was "blindsided" by the allegations.
Lemons said Campbell never strapped Oscar to the chair but used an adaptive lunch tray to prevent him from knocking over his food. Campbell also was always in the room with Oscar, so he wasn't secluded, the attorney said.
Kuo said she plans to put the $450,000 into a trust to pay for Oscar's care.
"He is permanently damaged," she said. "Now he needs intensive, 24-hour care."
