A special education teacher in Iowa has been fired after blowing the whistle on a staffer who ignored the screams of a nonverbal autistic child as he banged his head on the concrete floor.
Amanda Delzell, 29, has been on paid leave since late last year, but was ultimately fired by the Urbandale school board in a 4-1 vote Monday night.
She said she was concerned about the safety of 7-year-old Keaton Petek because one of her colleagues ignored him when he hit his head at Webster Elementary School last year.
Delzell – who said there was blood in her classroom as a result of the incident – said she was consistently rejected by her supervisors as she was told the child’s self-harm was confidential and under investigation.
It was so confidential that they apparently didn’t even tell the boy’s parents, Cody and Paige Petek, about it until Delzell himself informed them. The Peteks are now filing a civil rights complaint against the school.
Amanda Delzell, 29, has been on paid leave since late last year, but was ultimately fired by the Urbandale school board in a 4-1 vote Monday night.
She has said she was concerned about the safety of 7-year-old Keaton Petek (pictured) because one of her colleagues ignored him when he hit his head at Webster Elementary School last year.
When Keaton’s parents were finally allowed to watch the video, they were shocked by what they saw.
“The Special Ed teacher stands over him with her arms crossed over her chest or with her hands on her hips, showing no empathy or stooping to his level,” Paige Petek said. WHO13.
In November, Delzell described what was going on with Petek and what led her to report her colleague’s behavior.
“One of my students, who is autistic and nonverbal, was damaged by another teacher to the point where there was blood in my classroom,” Delzell said. WHO13.
“The next day I went in and looked at the cameras and what I saw was that my student’s IEP and behavior plan were not being followed, resulting in him being seriously injured.”
Keaton’s parents say he is generally a “fun, happy, resilient child,” but because of what he experiences on the spectrum, “any kind of disruption in his schedule, whether at home or at school, can cause him to becomes overstimulated. , overwhelmed and very confused.’
Delzell then describes similar behavior on behalf of the other teacher as Petek’s mother witnessed.
‘I saw his teacher standing over him, allowing him to self-harm, and using her foot to push him down the hall. He was crying while in the fetal position.”
Delzell – who said there was blood in her classroom as a result of the incident – said she was consistently rejected by her supervisors after being told the child’s self-harm was confidential and under investigation.
It was so confidential that they apparently didn’t even tell the boy’s parents, Cody and Paige Petek (pictured), until Delzell himself informed them. The Peteks are now filing a civil rights complaint against the school
When Keaton’s parents were finally allowed to watch the video, they were shocked by what they saw: a teacher refusing to help their son because he was self-harming.
Paige Petek said it was even worse: “They did nothing to help him and at one point you see the special education teacher chasing him down the hall with her foot as he screams and cries.”
‘[Keaton’s] The behavior plan states that in any situation where Keaton is activated and hits his head against an object or the ground, an adult will immediately intervene and block his head with the safety cushions. And that should be followed by a nurse assessing him.”
The nurse called Petek and claimed that the teacher had tended to Keaton’s injury.
However, the next day she received an email from the school principal stating that this teacher would be “away for a few days,” without further explanation.
Five days later, Petek says “another employee” — believed to be Delzell — told her about the incident and that “they were told not to say anything about it or talk to the parents about it.”
Delzell said she was disciplined by the school for reporting it to parents about 10 days after the incident.
“I’m on the leadership team, I’m a model teacher, a mentor teacher and right after the parents found out, I got a letter of reprimand saying I wasn’t meeting the standards,” she said.
In mid-November, Delzell — who has been teaching in the school district since 2018 — was placed on administrative leave, which lasted until April’s decision to fire her.
Delzell said she was disciplined by the school for reporting it to parents about 10 days after the incident
Cody Petek (pictured center) called it “terrifying” that the woman who tried to do the right thing was punished, while the special education teacher who ignored Keaton’s cries still works there
Keaton’s parents say he is generally a “fun, happy, resilient child,” but because of what he experiences on the spectrum, “any kind of disruption in his schedule, whether at home or at school, can cause him to becomes overstimulated. , overwhelmed and very confused’
Last year, Cody Petek called it “terrifying” that the woman who tried to do the right thing was punished, while the special education teacher who ignored Keaton’s screams still works there.
“These children cannot speak and I feel like there is no one to stand up for the children’s interests.”
The family filed a civil rights complaint against the teacher in the video, administrators and the Urbandale school district and its board, which chose to terminate Delzell Monday night.
“Leadership starts at the top,” said Cody Petek. “They need to be held accountable for what they did and the way they handled it. If they did this to our child, they will do it to others. And that’s what we want: to make sure this never happens again.’
She was fired even though 40 people showed up at a school board meeting in December to express their support for calling out a colleague’s behavior. WHO13 reported.
“We are deeply disappointed by the superintendent’s recommendation and the board’s decision,” Delzell’s attorney, Lori Bullock, said in a statement after her dismissal.
‘We are not done with this fight yet. We will continue to work to hold the district accountable for how it retaliated against Ms. Delzell for doing the right thing.”
The Urbandale School Board declined to comment on the decision, citing confidentiality laws.
a Change.org petition to reintroduce Delzell has already collected more than 600 signatures.