North Allegheny teacher placed on leave; accused of dragging 6-year-old girl with Down syndrome

A teacher at North Allegheny’s Hosack Elementary School has been placed on administrative leave while McCandless police investigate allegations that a young girl with Down syndrome was dragged across the floor during an adaptive gym class.

The district has not released details about the alleged incident or the teacher and student involved. Acting Superintendent Patrick O’Toole said the district “takes all matters involving our students and staff very seriously.”

”The District is currently investigating an incident at Hosack Elementary School where an employee has been placed on administrative leave,” O’Toole wrote. “While federal privacy laws prevent us from sharing details and confirming specified information, we are working with local law enforcement and will follow district policies to address these matters based on our investigation.”

McCandless police Chief Ryan Hawk confirmed that detectives are looking into accusations that a staff member used “excessive physical force” with a student.

“Detectives were up there (at the school) today interviewing staff members, and we plan to consult with the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office before deciding if charges should be filed,” he said.

Hawk said his department got involved after a ChildLine incident report was filed in connection with the alleged incident.

Nicole Glancy told the Tribune-Review on Tuesday that the incident involved her 6-year-old daughter, who is nonverbal and works with speech, occupational and physical therapists.

Glancy said the incident occurred on April 26 but she wasn’t told about it for four days.

She said school officials shared a roughly 4-second video clip from security cameras that shows her daughter being lead by a male teacher toward an adaptive bicycle.

“He was holding her hand as they walked and she sat down because she very much did not want to ride the scooter that day,” she said. “He then forcefully grabbed her by the arms and dragged her toward the scooter.”

Glancy said the teacher dragged her daughter by the ankles when she continued to resist.

He then picked her up and forced her to sit on the scooter by holding her down on the seat, she said.

“After hearing what happened, I really didn’t want to even watch the video, but as a mother I felt it was something I had to do to be sure,” Glancy said.

Glancy said there were two other adults in the room but neither intervened.

“They just stood there and did nothing to help her,” she said.

Glancy said one of the witnesses notified the principal and the special education teacher, which prompted the investigation by district officials.

Since the incident, Glancy said her daughter has gone from being a “happy, outgoing child” to “crying and throwing fits” when she goes to school.

“As parents we are still trying to wrap our heads around this,” Glancy said. “How do we help a little girl who has always been happy and sociable to not be afraid of meeting new people when this has been done to her?

“How do we help a child who already has a problem processing emotions process the fact that this is not OK? How do we undo the damage?”