Nanaimo teacher disciplined for locking autistic boy in storage room
NANAIMO — A Nanaimo-Ladysmith Public Schools substitute teacher has been suspended after admitting to locking a six-year-old autistic boy inside a storage room.
According to the published agreement between the BC Commissioner for Teacher Regulation and Sherri Lee Loewen, the suspension followed an incident on Sept. 16, 2016 involving a boy who was having a “temper tantrum.”
Loewen was issued a letter of discipline by the school district on Nov. 7 and was suspended from the teacher on-call list between Oct. 26 to Nov. 8, 2016. That represented a four day suspension without pay.
According to the agreement, an education assistant of Loewen’s moved the boy to a storage room and was called away to deal with another child. Loewen then closed the storage room door, locking the boy inside. She opened the door once, but closed it again after the boy “yelled at her.”