Central Bucks school board holds termination hearing for superintendent and Jamison principal after child abuse reports

Staff at a Central Bucks elementary school publicly testified Tuesday about abuse allegations in a special education classroom as the school board weighs firing the superintendent and principal over their handling of the issue.

Superintendent Steven Yanni and Jamison Elementary School principal David Heineman faced an at-times tense public hearing in front of members of the school board in Doylestown as the hearing began Tuesday.

Yanni was placed on administrative leave in April after a report from Disability Rights PA found that students in an autistic support classroom at Jamison Elementary were abused by a teacher and an educational assistant last fall. Heineman was placed on paid leave in March. The two administrators are among five employees whom the school board moved to terminate in June, including the teacher and educational assistant.

The hearing marks the next step of the process for Yanni and Heineman, with the board expected to vote next month on whether to terminate their employment.

Peter Amuso, the district’s solicitor, presented his case Tuesday, calling several witnesses who said they saw abuse at the hands of Gabrielle McDaniel and an educational assistant, and alleged that Yanni and Heineman failed to take appropriate action. (McDaniel has denied wrongdoing, and the board has also moved to fire her.)

“The lies stop today. No more equivocating, no more hiding. The lies stop today,” Amuso said in his opening remarks.

Meanwhile, attorneys for Yanni and Heineman aimed to argue their clients had done nothing wrong. They are expected to present their cases when the hearing resumes Wednesday.

The abuse allegations were first reported by Alyssa Kline, a personal-care assistant in the autistic support classroom. The teacher and educational assistant abused two students in the four-student classroom by illegally restraining them, causing a “reasonable likelihood of bodily injury” and likely interfering with their breathing, according to the report from Disability Rights PA. The Pennsylvania Department of Education also found that the school did not follow requirements to report the use of restraints.

The two educators also fostered “a likelihood of sexual abuse or exploitation” of one student by allowing the student to masturbate without teaching him that such behavior was inappropriate at school, according to the report.

Other incidents detailed in the report include a student being denied water, the nudity of a student, and an overall lack of respect for students’ dignity.

Kline was among the school employees who testified Tuesday. She described the classroom as an isolated, unwelcoming environment. Kline, along with other employees, said Heineman had instructed staff members to consult him before making a report to ChildLine, a state reporting line for child abuse or neglect.

“My classroom was Fort Dix: Nobody came in, nobody went out. It was pure isolation,” Kline said.

Jacklynn Narzisi, a speech language pathologist at Jamison, testified that the environment in McDaniel’s classroom was “aggressive.”

The allegations have become a lightning rod in the Central Bucks community. For at least half of the roughly six-hour hearing, teachers and members of the public packed the boardroom at the school district headquarters in Doylestown.

School board member Jim Pepper, whose son was one of the four students in the autistic support classroom, will not vote in the case.

Pepper has accused the district of covering up the reports and misleading police. He has also claimed law enforcement dismissed the case and prematurely declined to file criminal charges.

Yanni was named Central Bucks superintendent last year after serving in that role for the Upper Dublin and Lower Merion districts. He asked a Bucks County judge last week to delay the hearing, claiming in court filings that the district had violated his due process rights. In a ruling issued Monday, Bucks County Court Judge Jordan B. Yeager denied his request for a temporary restraining order against the district and school board to delay the hearing.

The hearing is expected to conclude Wednesday.

School board members anticipate voting on the terminations at their Sept. 18 meeting, the district said Tuesday. Jonathan Huerta, an attorney and appointed special counsel who served as the hearing officer, said he will make a report and recommendation to the school board.

“It is the school board and the school board only who will make a final decision,” Huerta said, noting the board can accept or reject his recommendation.