Pennsbury school officials are investigating an incident in the Edgewood Elementary School's autistic support classroom last week.
Dino Ciliberti, Patch Staff
Posted Wed, May 14, 2025 at 4:07 pm ET|
FAIRLESS HILLS, PA — Three Edgewood Elementary School staff members have been placed on administrative leave after an incident in the autistic support classroom, officials said.
The school administration sent three emails to parents after receiving reports that two staff members had an interaction with a student that, if true, did not meet district expectations. In each case, the District notified the parent/guardian of the students involved, provided details, and commenced an investigation.
Out of an abundance of caution, and following district policy, the staff members were removed from the classroom pending the investigation results, school officials said in the emails sent to Patch.
The emails were sent from Interim Principal Michele Spack, Director of Special Services Travis Bloom, and Schools Superintendent Thomas A. Smith.
During his initial investigation, Bloom received a report that one of the staff members who was the subject of these reports generally made verbal comments about students that may have been inappropriate.
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The District has also notified ChildLine and local law enforcement of each report it received.
"Our absolute priority is the well-being of District students, and these matters are being thoroughly investigated and addressed. The interactions with students that were reported appear to be isolated incidents," the first email stated. "You are being notified, however, because the District is committed to transparency, and you may have questions or concerns regarding the absence of staff members in your child’s class."
Officials said the classroom teacher has been absent from school recently, but that the absence was not related to the incidents.
In a follow-up email, the district said that two staff members assigned to the classroom were placed on administrative leave as the district conducts "a thorough and impartial investigation."
A third email said another staff member was placed on adminisitrative leave.
School officials said the investigation would also determine whether proper reporting protocols were followed.
"It is difficult when the District receives these types of inquiries because we are generally prohibited by law from talking about individual student and personnel matters in detail publicly, and cannot speak to the actual facts. Without addressing any specifics, the district can confirm that reports were received last week regarding staff members assigned to classrooms in the district and that the District took immediate action. We are aware of at least one media report on an online website that referred to an alleged incident, and which was false in several respects," Jennifer Neill, Pennsbury's supervisor of public relations director, said.
School officials said that no conclusions have been made about the issues and that there is no assumption about the staff members engaged in this conduct.
Any final conclusions will only be made following an investigation, as required by law, school officials said.
The parents/guardians of the students involved will be apprised of any developments that relate to their children. Arrangements have been made to ensure that your child’s classroom continues to receive the same levels of staffing support and that instruction is not impacted.
"We understand that the topic of student safety, particularly for special education students, is the subject of increased interest in the local community. We believe these are exceedingly important topics and that the attention to this subject can only yield positive outcomes for Pennsylvania students," Neill said.
Anyone with questions or concerns should contact program supervisor, Stephine Myers at [email protected] or Interim Principal, Michele Spack at [email protected].