Photo Of Local Special Needs Student’s Injuries Shared More Than 21,000 Times
A Bucks County Schools Intermediate Unit No. 22 (BCIU) teacher is expected to lose their job after a 15-year-old girl with cerebral palsy was injured on the campus of Pennsbury High School East in Falls Township last month.
BCIU spokesperson JoAnn Perotti confirmed to LevittownNow.com that “termination proceedings against the teacher are now in progress.”
The student – identified by her family as Sammie Dreisbach of Levittown – fell face first out of her wheelchair after it struck a curb while taking part in an activity outside the high school where she attends BCIU classes on Friday, September 11.
The family of the student alleges the teacher was to blame for the incident and injuries that left the teenager, who cannot speak, out of school for several weeks.
Sammie’s mother posted this month about the incident and shared a photo of her visibly injured daughter on Facebook. As of Wednesday, the post was shared across the world more than 21,000 times.
The status that Sammie’s mother, Bonnie Efaw Dreisbach, originally posted:
Sending my child to school then having them neglect her and this is what I am dealing with ! And nothing can be done about it !!! Please let’s go viral and let people see what happens to a special needs child who can not walk or talk ! My heart is breaking for her !!!!
The incident continues to be investigated by the BCIU. Calkins Media reporter Joan Hellyer wrote Tuesday night that police said ” no criminal action occurred” and charges would not be filed.
“BCIU takes seriously its responsibility to safely care for all students in all of our programs,” a statement from the BCIU read.
Here’s the full BCIU statement:
Bucks County Intermediate Unit (BCIU) supervisory staff were informed on the morning of September 11, 2015 that a student attending a BCIU classroom in the Pennsbury School District was injured when the student’s wheelchair fell off the sidewalk/curb, causing the student to land facedown. The student suffered abrasions to her face, arms and knees, along with a cut lip requiring stitches.
BCIU supervisory staff immediately came onsite to investigate and spoke with all staff and other witnesses to the accident. A report was filed by BCIU supervisors with Childline. Per BCIU protocol, the teacher who was assigned to the student was placed on administrative leave, and as a result of information received during the investigation; termination proceedings against the teacher are now in progress.
The BCIU takes seriously its responsibility to safely care for all students in all of our programs. We are truly sorry that a student entrusted to our care was injured. We are fully cooperating with both the school district and the police investigation into this accident, and our thoughts are with the student and the student’s family during this time. We are hopeful that the student makes a complete recovery. Supervisory staff have talked with the family several times and our Executive Director met with the parents to express the Intermediate Unit’s heartfelt concern. We will continue to keep both the district and the family fully informed.
On the Justice For Sammie Facebook group, people from as far away was England have commented and voiced their support for Sammie and her family. Some that have commented stated they also have disabled children and understand what Sammie’s family is going through.
Sammie’s mother was not available for comment on Wednesday.