Springfield teaching sub banned after threatening students
<p class="BODY" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Imperial">A 69-year-old Springfield woman has been banned from substitute teaching at any District 186 school after she hit a boy with a broom, said she wanted to kill the students in her room and made other inappropriate remarks, authorities said.</font>
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<p class="BODY" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Imperial">The woman was not arrested, but police and the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services are investigating.</font>
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<p class="BODY" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Imperial">The incident happened between 2:45 and 3 p.m. Wednesday at Fairview Elementary School, 2200 Ridgely Ave., and was reported to police Thursday morning after several parents, including the mother of the boy who was struck, contacted the principal.</font>
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<p class="BODY" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Imperial">The boy's mother complained that the substitute teacher hit him on his leg with a broom as he was attempting to get his book bag out of a closet.</font>
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<p class="BODY" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Imperial">She also allegedly told the children to "sit their (expletives) down," said she'd like to kill all of them, that if "you were my children you'd be in St. John's Hospital," and that parents today don't know how to discipline their children, according to a police report that has been forwarded to the state's attorney's office.</font>
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<p class="BODY" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Imperial">What grade the woman was substitute teaching wasn't specified.</font>
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<p class="BODY" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Imperial">Letters were sent home to parents letting them know of the incident and that the woman will no longer be substitute teaching. School officials also sent a letter to the teacher saying she has been removed from the subbing list.</font>
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<p class="BODY" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Imperial">"She does have a right to appeal that. I don't know that she will, but she has a right to send a letter to the superintendent should she want to ask for an appeal," said District 186 spokeswoman Sarah Watson.</font>
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<p class="BODY" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Imperial">The district's substitute teachers must undergo background checks prior to being hired. If they haven't continuously been a substitute for six months, then they must undergo a new check. The woman in question last underwent a check in early 2005.</font>
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<p class="BODY" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Imperial">"This is a very isolated incident, fortunately," said Watson.</font>
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<p class="BODY" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Imperial">Jayette Bolinski can be reached at (217) 788-1530.</font>