ST. ALBANS, Maine — Some parents in Regional School Unit 19 are calling for the removal of a teacher accused of grabbing a young student, leaving scratch marks on his waist and midsection.
Somerset County Sheriff Dale Lancaster said Tuesday his department received a complaint on May 5 from the father of a student at St. Albans Consolidated School who said the teacher “used excessive force while dealing with his son.”
“This is still an active investigation,” Lancaster said, adding that his office is in contact with the office of District Attorney Maeghan Maloney. He declined to identify the teacher, as no charges have been filed. The Bangor Daily News is not naming the teacher for the same reason.
Lancaster said it was his understanding that the teacher at the prekindergarten-through-fourth-grade school has been placed on administrative leave.
“We’ll be talking to all parties involved,” Lancaster said.
Interim district Superintendent Raymond Freve declined to comment Monday on the teacher’s status or the allegations, because it is a personnel matter.
Parents of another student in the class drafted a letter, which they sent to other parents, claiming this was not an isolated incident. The letter accused the teacher of “yelling; putting her hands on students; refusing to allow students to use the bathroom without fear of being punished; students missing lunch as a punishment; ridiculing and manipulating students; and many others.”
Several parents who have children in the class sat down with Freve last month, a few weeks after the incident, to air their frustrations and concerns about the classroom environment.
An online petition is circulating, calling on the district to fire the teacher rather than eventually allowing her to return from leave.
“We are not comfortable at all with the possibility that a person who has demonstrated this type of behavior toward a group of 5- and 6-year-olds could be allowed back in the same classroom,” the letter states.
Messages left for the teacher and St. Albans school principal were not returned Tuesday.
Follow Nick McCrea on Twitter at @nmccrea213.