Central Bucks’ superintendent is on leave after report found abuse of special education students

Central Bucks Superintendent Steven Yanni was placed on leave after a report finding students were abused in a special education classroom at one of the district’s elementary schools.

In a message to community members Thursday night, school board president Susan Gibson and vice president Heather Reynolds said that Yanni “will be placed on administrative leave. During his absence, Dr. Charles Malone, assistant superintendent for secondary schools, will assume the role of substitute superintendent.”

Yanni, a former superintendent in Upper Dublin and Lower Merion, was named Central Bucks’ superintendent in May.

The announcement comes a day after the release of a report by Disability Rights PA, finding that students in an autistic support classroom at Jamison Elementary suffered abuse at the hands of a teacher and educational assistant.

The abuse, first reported to the district by a personal care assistant in November, included use of illegal physical restraints and creating a “likelihood of sexual abuse and exploitation” of one student, according to the report.

While the district has said it found no evidence of abuse, the report found that Yanni and other administrators failed to accurately investigate and disclose to authorities the assistant’s allegations — which included screaming at students, allowing them to cry for long periods of time, and permitting student nudity and masturbation.

Yanni filed reports to ChildLine, the state child protective services hotline, that were “delayed, incomplete, and misleading,” according to the report. It also said that Yanni didn’t give police information about corroborated allegations — describing the issue in part as a “personality conflict” among staff — and that he was wrong in telling police the district found no abuse.

The report also said the district’s investigation was faulty, and that there was a “culture of fear” that dissuaded staff from speaking up.

The school board hired a law firm to investigate the allegations after they became public in January; the findings from that probe have not yet been announced.

The teacher and educational assistant in the Jamison classroom are on leave, but not for disciplinary reasons, according to the Disability Rights report. The group said it interviewed 13 staff members, as well as administrators, and reviewed records, including notes taken by administrators during the district’s internal investigation.

At a school board meeting Thursday, Gibson said she intended “to hold every single person accountable who committed the abuse, covered up the abuse, and otherwise was complicit.”

Jim Pepper, a school board member whose son was among the students in the Jamison classroom, said Yanni and Nadine Garvin — an assistant superintendent retiring at the end of the school year — “sent my son and three other defenseless children back into that room to be abused” after learning of the abuse allegations.

“They covered up, and at every turn ... Dr. Yanni has lied,” Pepper said.

Pepper, the lone Republican on the board, has not participated in decision-making about the district’s response to the allegations. He said the board had all the information it needed in January to place Yanni and others on leave, and while board members Gibson, Reynolds, Dana Foley, and Daniel Kimicata “wanted these people out,” the other four did not.

Those four members — Rob Dugger, Rick Haring, Karen Smith, and Jenine Zdanowicz — did not respond to Pepper Thursday.

Community members expressed outcry over the report.

“You took a first step tonight, but we need to see much, much more,” said Amanda O’Connor, who described the findings as “beyond horrifying” and called for more safeguards for children in special education programs, as well as an overhaul in staff reporting procedures.

Others demanded action against district staff and administrators.

“Every person who knew and kept quiet needs to be fired,” Fania Karlitsky told the board. “Anything less is unacceptable.”

Paul Calderaio, who has a daughter in the district’s special needs program, said he was “furious that something so horrific” had happened.

“You could be 7 years old and use a finger gun and you’ll probably be suspended — we don’t tolerate that, but we’re going to tolerate kids literally being abused?" Calderaio said. He said he was hopeful that “when everything comes out, that you’re going to hold the abusers accountable.”