By Michael Mahar,Samantha Kummerer
Copyright whdh
WATERTOWN, MASS. (WHDH) – When Julie Staadecker sent her three-year-old son to school for the first time, she thought he was in safe hands. Months later, she discovered she was wrong.
“It’s been a really hard experience for our whole family,” Staadecker said.
That experience began in 2022, when she enrolled her son, Cameron, in Early Steps, an integrated preschool within Watertown Public Schools.
Cameron has autism and the integrated classroom allowed him to get multiple services in one spot.
“My son was excited to start school and be a big kid,” she remembered.
But for months, the place meant to support him failed him.
“I’m never letting my child step foot in that building again,” Staadecker said.
What happened inside that building came to light in March 2023, when a teacher’s assistant reported teacher Maureen Connolly for mistreating Cameron and other students.
The Massachusetts Department of Children and Families (DCF) investigated and found the claims that Connolly physically abused and neglected Cameron were true.
A DCF report obtained by 7 Investigates revealed Connolly pushed Cameron into a cabinet and pulled him by his ear.
“The teacher called Cam stupid and dumb and disgusting so often in front of the other kids in his class…. sorry that one is still hard to say… that the other kids started to repeat those names to him too,” Staadecker said.
He wasn’t the only one mistreated.
DCF and police reports reveal that one student was tripped on purpose and another was pushed into cubbies.
The teacher’s assistant said Connolly picked up one child by their hood and dropped them. The child then asked Connolly, “Why did you hurt me?”
Lunch boxes were thrown and Connolly refused to change the preschoolers’ diapers even when they physically couldn’t, according to the DCF investigation.
Staadecker said Cameron would often come home with a full diaper.
“He was locked in the bathroom repeatedly, but once he was locked in for an hour, screaming and crying without any assistance or help,” Staadecker said she was told.
She said her son still struggles with going to the bathroom alone years later.
Connolly was charged with assault and battery related to one of the students. A judge placed her on probation for two years.
She is no longer employed at Watertown Public Schools after teaching at the preschool for ten years.
Through her attorney, Connolly declined to comment. In her interview with DCF, Connolly denied the allegations. She told DCF workers that her level of stress was higher and the main source of the stress was from not getting the support she asked for.
While Connolly is gone, Staadecker remains concerned that abuse could happen again without systemic change.
“While there was one individual who has now gone through the court system for her abuse of the kids, we definitely feel like the school system needs to be held responsible and ultimately hasn’t been,” she said.
This summer, Staadecker and three other families received a $300,000 settlement from Watertown Public Schools. Staadecker still can’t understand why the teacher’s assistant waited to report the abuse.
“It’s devastating. It’s horrific. I just can’t fathom what would have prevented them from reporting it,” Staadecker said.
In Massachusetts, anyone working with students must report abuse within two days of witnessing it.
“That law is not always adhered to and followed in lots of organizations. I don’t think in a malicious manner, but I don’t think there is enough education around that law,” explained Dr. Eavan Miles-Mason Durwin, a pediatric neuropsychologist who works with students and schools across the state.
The teacher’s assistant at Early Steps, who finally came forward, told DCF that Connolly started being harsh in September and “things were getting bad” in December. The school was not notified until March.
The assistant told DCF they were afraid to come forward and had a “fear of retaliation”, according to the DCF investigation.
“If people are afraid to come forward, I think that points to a problem with the administrators themselves, so I think they should be looked at as well,” Staadecker said.
Staadecker said she would also like to see Watertown Public Schools add cameras, require even more training for staff and for administrators to increase their oversight in classrooms.
A spokesperson for Watertown Public Schools said staff are trained annually on mandatory reporting and “we unequivocally condemn any mistreatment and misconduct towards children.”
In a full statement, the district told 7 Investigates, “In keeping with the law and our roles as mandated reporters, the district immediately filed a report with the Department of Children and Families. We filed this report institutionally as the Watertown Public Schools, which allowed DCF to fully investigate not only the accused teacher, but all staff members and the administration’s response to the allegations. This independent investigation by DCF found no wrongdoing of any kind with respect to Watertown Public Schools’ response, or any wrongdoing by the other staff members at the Early Steps School.”
Following the incident, Watertown Public Schools also launched an online incident reporting form with the ability for staff to report anonymously. Some question if that is enough.
“If you are in fact a teacher, you have to report and you have to identify it and you have to report exactly what you saw and what happened, so I’m not sure how the anonymous tip line helps with that,” said Miles-Mason Durwin.
Dan Heffernan is an attorney who has represented students with disabilities for decades, including the preschoolers in this case. Heffernan said he’s handled lots of cases where there was a delay in someone reporting abuse due to staff being confused about the law and what meets the threshold to report.
“I think a lot of it just doesn’t come to light. People don’t come forward. People don’t hear about it,” he said.
Heffernan and Miles-Mason Durwin agreed that while more thorough training for mandated reporting is needed across the board, districts can also provide tools to proactively prevent incidents from happening.
“I think sometimes people are put in situations that are overwhelming and they can’t really handle the class and that leads to some abusive stuff or can’t handle specific students because they weren’t given the support or the training,” Heffernan said.
Miles-Mason Durwin said districts should focus on providing the correct training and support to staff from the start, especially those working with students with disabilities.
“Helping these professionals do their best is really important and the system has to support them in doing that,” Miles-Mason Durwin said.
She said that without the support and correct training, the chances for negative incidents can increase.
“It is going to leave everybody at risk. The educators are going to feel stressed, the children are going to feel stressed, the learning is going to suffer, so that to me is the most important,” she said.
As for Staadecker, she said her family and the others impacted by Connolly are still working on moving forward.
Cameron is now six years old. Staadecker said since leaving Early Steps, he has started talking and is doing much better at a new school. However, she said traces of the trauma remain for him and the family.
“There is a certain relief in being able to move on but what is inside never really goes away,” Staadecker said.
She hopes that by speaking out, further change can be made within WPS and across the board to protect other families from enduring what hers has.
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