Central Bucks Superintendent Dr. Yanni Placed On Administrative Leave

DOYLESTOWN, PA — Dr. Steven Yanni, the superintendent of the Central Bucks School District, has been placed on paid administrative leave effective at 5 p.m. on Thursday, April 24.

The announcement was made at the start of Thursday night's Central Bucks School Board meeting by School Board President Susan Gibson and sent out in a district-wide communication.

During his absence, Gibson said Dr. Charles Malone, assistant superintendent for secondary schools, will be assuming the role of substitute superintendent.

The announcement comes on the heels of a 75-page report released by Disability Rights Pennsylvania into alleged abuse of special education students in a Jamison Elementary School special education classroom last fall.

Following an investigation, the disability rights watchdog group found that students in the Jamison autistic support classroom were subjected to abuse, neglect, illegal restraints, and aversive treatment.

Disability Rights Pennsylvania also found that mandated reporters at Jamison Elementary School and in the district failed to file a ChildLine report and that the ChildLine reports filed by Superintendent Dr. Steven Yanni on behalf of the district were "delayed, incomplete, and misleading."

DRP began investigating after allegations of abuse were raised by a personal care assistant (PCA) in the Jamison classroom last fall, involving a teacher, an educational assistant, and two students in the four-student autistic support classroom.

"After interviews with relevant Jamison staff and district administrators and a review of records, DRP concludes that the allegations of abuse made by a PCA in the classroom are credible and corroborated by several staff who worked in the classroom. The students in the classroom experienced abuse, neglect, illegal restraints, use of aversive techniques, and disability discrimination, as defined under applicable state and federal laws."

Compounding the abuse, the DRP report says district staff "failed to comply with the Pennsylvania Child Protective Services Law, which requires immediate reporting of suspected child abuse to ChildLine. Instead, district administrators filed ChildLine reports days and then weeks after receipt of information of suspected child abuse, and the information reported in both instances was incomplete and misleading."

While there were flaws in the district’s internal fact-finding investigation, the DRP report says the district’s own investigation "still revealed significant corroboration of the abuse in the classroom," the report says. "Despite that corroboration, the district erroneously informed parents of students in the classroom and the local police conducting the ChildLine investigation that the district’s investigation found no evidence of abuse.

"A culture of distrust and fear of retaliation pervades at Jamison and among district administrators regarding the classroom, which undoubtedly contributed to the lack of appropriate reporting and response by the district," the report says.

The DRP is recommending a series of actions be taken by the school board to address the issues, including staff and administrator discipline, training, policy development, and additional safeguards for the safety and rights of students with disabilities.

The Central Bucks School District acknowledged the release of the report in a statement issued by Assistant Superintendent Dr. Charles Malone and school board leadership - President Susan Gibson and Vice President Heather Reynolds.

"The report contains concerning information that the board and district will review with utmost seriousness. It is important that we take the appropriate time to carefully evaluate the information presented before commenting or acting on any details," the statement reads.

"We are also awaiting the results of the independent investigation into this matter. We will consider the DRP and independent reports carefully and are committed to taking any necessary action. The safety of our students remains our highest priority, and we will respond to both reports appropriately and transparently," the statement concludes.

In February, the board hired Leigh Dalton, an attorney with the law firm of Stock and Leader, to look into the allegations of child abuse at Jamison and how the allegations were reported out by the administration.

At the January meeting, when the allegations came to light, board member James Pepper called on the superintendent and several administrators to resign their posts for misleading him about the alleged mistreatment of children, including his son, by a teacher and an aide inside the classroom.

Pepper said in January he's "beyond angry" about what happened to his son. "My son was treated like an animal. But at its core, he was treated worse than an animal. When the administration found out about it, multiple people lied to me and my wife ... I was told there was nothing to see here. That it was a personality conflict between an aide and a teacher in the room and the problems in the classroom revealed nothing more than instructional concerns and the district found no evidence of abuse.

"My son is not an animal. He is a beautiful boy who is loved. And all three of you need to go," he told the three district administrators. "There is no place for any of you in this district. You can never, ever be trusted again with anything let alone protecting our children," he said.