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Special needs children at a Delaware elementary school may have been abused inside the classroom by three teachers, according to police.
Families in Smyrna, Delaware, met with school administrators after learning their special needs children may have been the victims of abuse inside the classroom.
Smyrna Police are investigating the possibility that three teachers at Smyrna Elementary engaged in professional misconduct. Police are working with the state Attorney General’s Office Special Victims Unit, which is common for these kinds of investigations, according to Fox 29.
“Your child’s school is the last place you’d think something like this would ever happen,” parent Leslie Thomas told Fox 29. “It has to be a different school. My son is traumatized, even turning on the street leading to Smyrna Elementary, so I could never force him to go somewhere where he was traumatized.”

Smyrna Police are investigating the possibility that three teachers engaged in professional misconduct. (Smyrna Police)
“They were being locked in the bathroom in the dark by themselves,” parent Tierre Thomas told Fox 29. “Their hair was being pulled. Objects were being thrown at them. They were being put in timeout physically and being held there.”
Leslie Thomas said she previously raised concerns to the district after observing changes in her son this school year. She and other parents are petitioning the district to move the students to another elementary school.
“We’re seeing aggression in him, hitting, something he has never done before. He flinches. He’s afraid of the dark. These are all behaviors he has never exhibited before but consistent with the allegations that have been made,” she said. “Most of the parents have agreed on North Smyrna, so for right now I would like to see them create that setting and of course we all would like to see the charges coming very soon.”
The police investigation could last several months.