Parent alleges teacher physically grabbed her son during classroom incident; family says they will file state complaints

Melissa Salmon told the Shenendehowa Central School District Board of Education that her son, a high-school sophomore, was physically grabbed by a teacher during a classroom confrontation on Feb. 3.

“My son was in a classroom. The teacher physically put his hands on my son when he tried to interfere for the other student,” Melissa Salmon said. She added that the teacher “admitted to me on the phone that he did in fact put his hands on my son.”

The parent said the incident followed a situation in which another student watched inappropriate internet material in class, and that her son intervened to defend a female classmate. Salmon told the board she contacted Superintendent Dr. Robinson and other district staff and that she has “yet to have gotten an answer.”

Salmon also told the board she found public records indicating the same staff member had previously been accused of similar conduct and “was accused of and forced to resign from a coaching position in February” of an earlier year. “Why are we allowing teachers that have history?” she asked the board.

Salmon said she and her family will file formal complaints with the New York State Board of Education and “special ed education,” and she said the teacher is involved with special-education programming in the district.

The board had opened the meeting with the district's public-comment procedures and reminded speakers that under the district’s public-comment policy (policy 3 2 2 0) board members do not respond directly to public comments during the meeting and that operational questions are addressed to the superintendent. At the meeting the board did not take formal action on the complaint during the public-comment period.

The district did not provide additional comment during the meeting. Salmon identified Dr. Robinson and another staff member, Miss Holden, as recipients of earlier communications about the incident.

The matter, as described by Salmon during public comment, will be the subject of the family's planned filings with state authorities; the board's formal investigative or disciplinary steps were not described during the meeting.