December 7, 2008
Dear Representative Bingham:
Thank you so much for your desire for and advocacy towards the implementation of policies which would make it more difficult for a “bad teacher” to remain employed in Minnesota!
As an organization which advocates for school abuse protections, we were glad to see others share our vision and mission, and wanted to share with you an unsettling situation we’ve recently become aware of in your state.
We are also hoping you could help us understand Minnesota’s policy for licensure revocation, or more importantly, why a license wouldn’t be revoked by the State Board of Teaching. Please allow us to explain.
An article was published by West Central Tribune on December 6, 2008, titled “Special needs teacher's appeal of maltreatment ruling in court Tuesday” about teacher Lisa Van Der Heiden, who was convicted of maltreating a disabled child during her employment at Lincoln Elementary School in Willmar, and how she was appealing her guilty verdict by more or less rationalizing that her intentions were pure.
Ms. Van Der Heiden had been found guilty of denying the young girl access to a restroom after a paraprofessional caught the child running in the hallways. Although the child was not running at the time Ms. Van Der Heiden doled out “punishment,” and although the child had explained that she had to use the restroom (which ostensibly may have been the reason why she had been running), Ms. Van Der Heiden confined the girl to a “time out room” to deal with the child’s “inappropriate behaviors.”
The child subsequently wet herself in the confines of that room.
While we disagree with Ms. Van Der Heiden’s rationale that she was “not” maltreating the child because she did not “deny” the child access to the restroom, but simply “delayed” access and therefore should not be held accountable because the child’s bladder did not cooperate with that “delay” – what is even more disconcerting is that the article relayed that this woman – who has been convicted of maltreating a disabled child – is still not only teaching, but still teaching a “high risk population.”
Lakeview School, at the adolescent treatment unit at the Willmar Regional Treatment Center, has hired her – a teacher who, according to the article, “has also been the subject of an investigation by the Department of Education's division of special education compliance and assistance;” an investigation “which found numerous violations of state and federal regulations in her classroom.”
The article also reported that the State Board of Teaching is “monitoring” the situation, but we can’t help but ask perhaps the rhetorical questions of: “Why are they only monitoring this situation when the facts are plain: a Minnesota “teacher” was convicted of maltreatment?” and “Why hasn’t her license been revoked?”
The appeals’ hearing is scheduled for this coming Tuesday, December 9, 2008 at 11:00 a.m., and we anxiously hope common sense will prevail and the conviction will not be overturned.
But in the meantime, we remain concerned that this woman – a convicted abuser – still has access to a vulnerable population and still has a license to teach.
Could you please clarify why her license hasn’t been revoked?
Thank you for your attention to this matter. We look forward to your response.
Best regards,
Jennifer Searcy
Founder/Director of Public Policy and Affairs
The Coalition for Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports
Email: tcpbis@gmail.com
Website: http://tcfpbis.webs.com
Blog: http://tcfpbis.blogspot.com
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