Who is Cathleen DeGarmo? NYC teacher sues DoE after repeated attacks by elementary school student
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: A second grader allegedly attacked Cathleen DeGarmo, a teacher, in a Queens classroom multiple times. DeGarmo has reportedly filed a $2 million lawsuit against the city Department of Education (DoE), alleging that the organization failed to defend her from a violent student at a Fresh Meadows elementary-middle school P4 at least three times in 2021.
DeGarmo allegedly suffered "severe" injuries, including tears in both shoulders, while working as a teacher once in September 2021 and twice in November 2021. During one of the instances, the student started headbutting and scratching DeGarmo in the shoulders and chest, according to court documents. Another incident saw the student continuously punching the teacher. DeGarmo, 58, who is a special education instructor, asserted that the DOE failed to inform her about the student's history of violence and disruptive behavior. She continues by charging the school with failing to monitor the unnamed student or remove him from the special education program in the wake of the incidents. The school is also charged with negligence in the case for failing to provide teachers with assistants or aides who could help maintain classroom safety.
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The NYPD stated that at least 52 school safety agents have been hurt by students so far in 2022, and more than half of them have been sent to the hospital, as reported by the New York Post. According to the NYPD, 58 school safety agents were hurt by misbehavior from students in 2021, and 42 of them were brought to the hospital.
MEAWW previously reported about a controversial PS 333 Manhattan School for Children principal Claire Lowenstein who allegedly resigned a year after receiving her second no-confidence vote. In a "years-long campaign of discriminatory hiring practices," the principal was accused of hiring solely White people for the school and not enough faculty of color.
Lowenstein is reportedly leaving the services voluntarily, according to Craig DiFolco, a spokesman for the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators. Her leaving time has not yet been made official though. The choice was made following a protest against her by faculty, staff, and parents on campus.
NPR reported more than two-thirds (69 percent) of principals surveyed said that they experienced "substantial political conflict" with parents or community members in 2021 over several contentious issues, including teaching about racial and ethnic issues, LGBTQ+ student rights policies and practices, social-emotional learning, and student access to books in the school library.