Pa. has upheld the firing of a Central Bucks administrator for failing to report abuse allegations

The Pennsylvania Department of Education upheld the firing of a Central Bucks administrator for failing to report suspected abuse of students in an autistic support classroom at Jamison Elementary School.

Alyssa Wright, the district’s former director of pupil services, was fired by Central Bucks last year amid a scandal over the district’s response to the abuse allegations, along with former Superintendent Steven Yanni, the Jamison Elementary principal, a teacher, and an educational assistant.

Wright learned of concerns about the students’ treatment on Nov. 14, 2024, and met with administrators the next day about the allegations, but didn’t contact ChildLine, the state’s hotline for reporting child abuse, according to the state’s education secretary, Carrie Rowe.

While the district’s then-superintendent, Yanni, contacted ChildLine six days later, “every school employee has an independent obligation to report suspected abuse,” Rowe said in an order March 30 upholding Wright’s firing.

Rowe said Wright’s “failure to report suspected child abuse constituted a violation” of the state’s Child Protective Services Law, and also said Wright failed to report restraints of students to the state.

A lawyer for Wright didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.

Wright has argued she was scapegoated in the abuse scandal, which erupted in January 2025 when then-school board member Jim Pepper, whose son was among the students in the Jamison Elementary classroom, made a whistleblower’s allegations public.

A watchdog group’s report last April found that students in the classroom were illegally restrained, physically punished, and denied water. One student was allowed to be naked and masturbate, creating a “likelihood of sexual abuse or exploitation,” according to the group, Disability Rights PA.

The group said that Yanni had left out relevant information in his report to ChildLine, and that police relied on Yanni’s assertion that there was no evidence of abuse when they closed their investigation.

Yanni, who is now the CEO of Northwood Academy Charter School in Philadelphia, has appealed his termination, saying he acted based on information given to him by other district officials.

Yanni and the Jamison principal who was fired, Dave Heineman, pointed fingers at Wright during their termination hearings.

In a federal lawsuit filed in September, Wright, who worked for Central Bucks for four years, said she was punished for raising concerns about the district’s investigation into the alleged abuse.

She accused the school board of fabricating a reason to fire her, and said she didn’t err in not contacting ChildLine. Pennsylvania’s child abuse reporting requirements apply to people with a “high level” of knowledge of suspected abuse, Wright said in her lawsuit, which is ongoing.

In her order upholding Wright’s firing, Rowe noted that the education department last year upheld the firing of a McKeesport principal who hadn’t reported suspected abuse. The principal said he had directed a teacher to do so, but that argument was “irrelevant,” given immediate reporting requirements, Rowe said.

As Central Bucks’ director of pupil services, Wright “had a high level of professional responsibility” for students receiving special education services, Rowe said. She said Wright was “properly dismissed” for “willful neglect of duties.”