Rally Planned To Support Boy, 4, After South Orange-Maplewood Schools Incident

MAPLEWOOD AND SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — After an incident last month in which — according to the family — a 4-year-old boy was held upside down by a teacher in the South Orange-Maplewood schools, local residents are planning a demonstration. READ MORE: Teacher In South Orange-Maplewood Schools Suspended

The demonstration is tentatively scheduled for this Saturday at 12 noon.

The pre-school teacher accused of dangling the boy — who's on the autism spectrum — has been suspended, reports have said.

Several organizations signed on to support the action and or draft a statement, including the People's Organization for Progress, Build More Unity, and the Caldwell Chapter of the Zetas, organizers said.

Information From The Organizers Of 'Justice for Daylan':

On April 29, 2023, a collective of community organizations and concerned members of the greater Maplewood-South Orange area will be mobilizing in support of the family of a 4-year-old Black child with autism who has been a victim of abuse by his teacher. The action will begin at Grove Park in South Orange, and proceed to walk to the South Orange-Maplewood Board of Education Building, where we will rally in solidarity with the family of the child and demand proper transparency and accountability on the part of the district.

On March 27, 2023, at 2:25pm the child was held upside-down by his ankles and dangled in the air for about 15 seconds by his teacher at Montrose Early Childhood Center. At this time, five other teachers were present in the classroom for the abuse.

The Wilkins family was not notified of what happened when they arrived five minutes later to pick their child up, and instead was told over 48 hours later on March 29th, at around 4:30pm. The teacher was suspended the morning of March 28th when one of the teachers present for the assault made the principal, Bonita Samuels, aware of what happened in the classroom the day before.

It has been one month since the harm took place and the family has still not been given any answers, nor have they been contacted by the Board of Education, Superintendent or local officials. Montrose Early Childhood Center in particular, along with the Maplewood-South Orange school district in general, has a long history of mental and physical abuse toward their students - either through neglect or direct complicity.

As members of this community, we are coming together to demand accountability in the
form of proper restitution to the family in order to pay for an education where the child is valued
and cared for with adequate resources, along with a restructuring of the accountability process for
incidents such as these, including transparency for the family and community.

The shameful and abusive practices allowed by this school district systemically must come to an end in order to build a safe and productive climate and culture of education for our youth.

READ MORE: Teacher In South Orange-Maplewood Schools Suspended