A teacher says she was repeatedly battered by a second grader in a Queens classroom.
Cathleen DeGarmo has sued the city Department of Education for $2 million, saying the agency failed to protect her from a violent student at elementary-middle school P4 in Fresh Meadows at least three times in the latter half of 2021.
The alleged beatings occurred while DeGarmo was teaching in September 2021 and twice during the following November — leaving the teacher with “severe” injuries, including tears in both shoulders.
In one of the incidents, the student began scratching and head-butting DeGarmo in the chest and shoulders, according to reports filed in court. In another, the student repeatedly punched the teacher.
DeGarmo, 58, a special needs teacher, claims the DOE never told her that the student had a history of assault and disruptive behavior.
She goes on to accuse the school of failing to supervise the student, who is not named, or remove him from the school’s special education program following the incidents.
The lawsuit also accuses the school of negligence because it does not provide teachers with assistants or aides who could help keep its classrooms safe.
Neither the Department of Education or DeGarmo commented on the case, which was filed Monday in Queens Supreme Court. The Department of Education does not keep public data on teacher assaults, but the NYPD reported that at least 52 school safety agents have injured by students so far this year and more than half of them were transported to the hospital.
A total of 58 school safety agents were injured by student misconduct last year and 42 of them were taken to the hospital, according to the NYPD.
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