Teacher who let kids vote out child to appeal suspension Monday in Fort Pierce
January 30th, 2009 by TCPalm.com
Wendy Portillo
Portillo got the suspension after a lengthy St. Lucie County Schools investigation into the incident. Alex was 5 years old last May when he was voted out by classmates. He was in the process of being diagnosed with a type of autism.
Alex Barton
According to police reports, Portillo brought Alex to the front of his kindergarten classroom and asked other students to tell him how his behavior affected them. Alex had left the class twice that day for discipline referrals. Portillo then asked the class to vote on whether Alex should stay in the class. Alex lost the vote. He went back to the office, where he spent the rest of the day.
In November, St. Lucie County School Board unanimously approved Lannon’s recommendation to suspend Portillo for one year without pay and return her to an annual contract. Lannon also planned to ask the state Board of Education to revoke her teaching certificate for one year.
Portillo’s attorney, David Walker of Stuart, said he had no comment. Alex’s mother, Melissa Barton, said she planned to attend the hearing.
“(Portillo) should not be allowed to work with kids,” Barton said.
Barton has said she thought Portillo should be fired for what happened.
“She’s not the victim here, Alex is,” she said. “This is because of what she did to him. I trusted her to teach him and not abuse him.”
Alex, now 6, is still in therapy over what happened, she said. He has since been diagnosed with Asperger syndrome, a type of high-functioning autism.
By Colleen Wixon, TCPalm.com
Tags: alex barton, appeals, autism, contract, elementary, fire, kids, mother, police, students, teach, teacher, teachers, vote, Wendy Portillo
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January 30th, 2009 at 5:00 pm
OMG! Is Portillo trying to submit her Glamour Shots to the paper now? LOL. She looks scary in that light.
February 1st, 2009 at 10:27 pm
The kid is a young terrorist. The mother is a lawyers dream. Mom should get to spend the day trying to teach a whole classroom of 5 year olds what they are expected to learn while also having the joy of maintaining decipline. I’m not a teacher and would never want to do what they are expected to for the pay they get. Parents need to step up to the plate and take responsibility for their ownkids. I would be infuriated to find out that my child was being deprived of his education because the teacher had to spend untold amounts of time on the “special needs” of one child. Let that child’s parent come in and help out and do it now!
February 2nd, 2009 at 8:39 pm
Portillo’s behavior is inexcusable. I would be interested in learning about Portillo’s communications with her superiors on campus. It is likely they neglected the obvious and ignored her troubles with the boy, leaving her to try anything. It sounds like it must have been quite difficult for her in the classroom. If she documented her referrals to the office and they were ignored, then her superiors should be likewise suspended. This would especially include the principal if he or she was involved. If there was no documentation sent to the office explaining her situation, then the teacher should find another line of work. If her pleas were ignored and she was left to her own divices, a suspension would be appropriate and she should lose her privilege to be a teacher for good as she might very well end up as the superintendent!