Here name is Dawn Marie Hamilton.
http://loudounextra.washingtonpost....-faulted-deadly-use-force/?hpid=sec-education
Loudoun Schoolteacher's Past Comes to Light at Hearing
By Michael Birnbaum (Contact), Maria Glod
Originally published at 5:07 p.m., May 19, 2009
Updated at 12:00 a.m., May 20, 2009
A Loudoun County teacher yesterday became the focus of a congressional hearing on restraining schoolchildren as government investigators reported that a student in her classroom at a Texas public school died seven years ago when she lay on him after he refused to stay in his seat.
Dawn Marie Hamilton, a special-education teacher at Park View High School in Sterling, was not criminally charged in the 2002 death of 14-year-old Cedric Napoleon. But an administrative judge found that the teacher used “excessive, unnecessary force,” according to Texas records, and upheld a decision to list her on a state registry of individuals found to have abused or neglected children.
Cedric’s death was used as an example of abusive restraint in a report by government investigators. Yesterday, the investigators revealed that they had uncovered hundreds of allegations that youngsters were improperly held, bound or isolated during the past two decades. The Government Accountability Office investigators also reported Hamilton’s past to Virginia education officials, who, in turn, informed Loudoun school officials.
Hamilton has been placed on paid administrative leave while officials review the information, said Loudoun schools spokesman Wayde B. Byard. He said that Hamilton, who was hired in August 2007, cleared background checks and had good references from her previous employer, Rock Creek Academy, a private special-education school in the District.
“There was no reason to believe she was an unfit candidate,” Byard said.
No one came to the door yesterday at Hamilton’s red-brick townhouse in Sterling, and attempts to reach the teacher by phone were unsuccessful. Neither an attorney who represented her in the Texas case nor officials from Rock Creek Academy immediately returned calls for comment.
The use of restraints in schools is a complicated issue as more children with special needs that involve behavioral problems enter classrooms. In some cases, teachers must restrain children to ensure that they do not harm themselves or others.
Deborah Ziegler of the Arlington County-based Council for Exceptional Children said teachers need more training in the proper use of restraints, more support in classrooms and additional tools to help children who might become violent.
“You only should be using these restraints and seclusions for kids with significant challenging behaviors, and only when they’re a danger to themselves or others,” Ziegler said. “These restraints are being used on far too many kids inappropriately when other less-intrusive behaviors should be used.”
At the House Education and Labor Committee hearing, Cedric’s foster mother, Toni Price, gave an emotional recounting of his death. A photo of the smiling boy in a white sweater was displayed on the table in front of her.
On the day he died, Cedric, then an eighth-grader at a middle school in Killeen, stopped doing his schoolwork and the teachers delayed his lunch as a punishment, according to his mother and the GAO report. The boy, who had searched trash cans for food when he was younger, tried to steal candy that day, left the classroom and was brought back by an aide.
Cedric would not stay in his seat and ignored Hamilton’s verbal warnings, according to the GAO report. Investigators found that she held him in his chair while he struggled. The teacher, who weighed more than 230 pounds, then put the 129-pound boy in a “therapeutic floor hold,” the report said, lying on him as he kicked and cursed. The boy apparently began having trouble breathing and said, “I give.” He then went limp and was boosted into a chair.
“The teacher was put on a registry in Texas, but she was able to go to another state,” Price told lawmakers. “I think that teacher should be put on a worldwide registry.”
Lawmakers compared the improper use of restraints to waterboarding and called for better oversight and teacher training.
“In many instances this wasn’t about a child being a danger to himself or others, this was about restoring order,” said Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), the committee chairman. “This is just unacceptable.”
Researcher Meg Smith contributed to this report.
