D204 substitute teacher fired in duct-taping incident
BY BILL BIRD wbird@stmedianetwork.com February 21, 2012 9:16PM
Updated: March 23, 2012 8:24AM
A veteran Indian Prairie School District 204 substitute teacher has been fired following a bizarre incident, in which the instructor allegedly ordered a student at Graham Elementary School in Naperville to bind his own wrists together with duct tape.
The incident occurred sometime Thursday and involved a 10-year-old boy enrolled at the school at 2315 High Meadow Road, in the High Meadow neighborhood on Naperville’s far southwest side.
The Sun learned the boy went home that afternoon and told a babysitter or other caregiver one of his teachers had bound his wrists together with duct tape “to prove a point.”
The caregiver called police after finding marks on the boy’s wrists.
Naperville police Sgt. Gregg Bell on Monday confirmed an incident had occurred, although he did not provide details of what had happened. The boy’s parents have declined to file criminal charges against the teacher, Bell said.
Janet Buglio, District 204’s director of communication services, on Tuesday released a statement to The Sun.
“While a substitute teacher was in charge of a classroom, an elementary school student applied duct tape to his own wrists while seated at his desk and the substitute watched,” Buglio said via e-mail.
“The substitute was immediately removed from the classroom as soon as the school’s administrator learned of the incident,” Buglio wrote.
“This substitute has worked in District 204 since 2000 without previous incident. District 204 has taken steps to ensure the substitute will not work again in any of its schools.”
Buglio declined to comment further. Neither she nor Bell would identify the teacher.
