Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

Teacher axed for treatment of autistic boy

|
|
 
  
Published: Nov. 19, 2008 at 10:30 AM

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla., Nov. 19 (UPI) -- A school board in Florida has voted to suspend a kindergarten teacher who allowed her students to vote on whether an autistic boy could remain in class.

Teacher Wendy Portillo did not address the Port St. Lucie School Board before the action was taken Tuesday night, the Web site TCPalm.com reported.

A police report says Portillo brought 5-year-old Alex Barton to the front of the classroom last May 21 and asked students to vote on whether he should stay in class given his behavior.

At the time, the boy was in the process of being diagnosed with Asperger syndrome, a form of autism.

In addition to the suspension, the Port St. Lucie's superintendent of schools has recommended revoking Portillo's tenure and placing her on an annual contract.

Portillo's attorney has notified the board he intends to contest the suspension before the state's Division of Administrative Hearings.

Recommended Stories
© 2008 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
Notable deaths of 2012 Scripps National Spelling Bee AmfAR Cinema Against AIDS gala
Indianapolis 500 Presidential Medal of Freedom Memorial Day around the nation
Additional Top News Stories
1 of 27
Snigdha Nandipati of San Diego wins Finals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee
View Caption
Snigdha Nandipati of San Diego, California watches confetti rain down as she wins the two-day Scripps National Spelling Bee championship, May 31, 2012, in National Harbor, Maryland. Nandipati successfully spelled the word .* guetapens *, meaning to lure or ambush. UPI/Mike Theiler
fark
Cow helps shy Englishman propose to his cow-crazy girlfriend. Thanks, Rosie
Your Canadian girlfriend just won an award for how many wieners she can stick in her mouth
Not news: Man gets probation for driving erratically, runing into a wall, getting stuck, and blowing...
Family forced to flee their apartment after their upstairs neighbors start shooting into the floor...
Ladies mount your poles. The RNC is coming
If you ever did win the lottery, would you give it away or surprise people with it in fun ways?