The Madison School District has broadly confirmed an incident involving a student eating dog food at school but didn’t give any additional information beyond the fact that a teacher has been placed on leave while the claim is investigated.
The mother of the student who was involved held a press conference Friday at the state Capitol, backed by state Rep. Shelia Stubbs, D-Madison, the Autism Society of Wisconsin, the NAACP and other supporters, in which she detailed what she believed happened, although the Wisconsin State Journal has been unable to confirm the allegation.
According to the mother, Debra Hawkes, a teacher left an opened can of dog food in the same room as Hawkes’ autistic 15-year-old son, which was discovered by the next teacher assigned to her son. That teacher took a photo of the can and sent it to the principal, Hawkes said, who told her about the incident the following week.
“I should have got some answers by now. I should feel a little bit more comfort,” Hawkes said. “I do by the grace of God, but as far as Madison East High School, they didn’t give me nothing.”
Stubbs, who represents part of Madison’s east side in the state Legislature, said she was at “a complete loss of words” when she heard from Hawkes. The school district has given Hawkes the “bare minimum information,” Stubbs said.
“This is shameful, and this is unacceptable,” Hawkes said. “As a former special ed teacher, I’m appalled that this incident took place, and that families and students are suffering from mistreatment from staff and do not get the response that is necessary — and that is immediately.”