NJ district’s special-needs students mocked, dangled upside down

ROXBURY — It hasn't been a good year for special-education employees in this Morris County school district.

In one recent case, an employee was accused of hanging a student upside down by his ankles. Another employee, meanwhile, used his Snapchat account to disparage his special-needs students.

The Morris County Prosecutor's Office is investigating the case of a teacher’s aide who dangled the 6-year-old Kennedy Elementary School student in a classroom in March as a form of punishment for not following instructions.

Police initially said prosecutors did not want to press criminal charges and closed the case. But the Morris County Prosecutor's Office appear to have changed their mind after pressure from the student's parent, according to the news site TAP into Roxbury.

The teacher's aide was suspended by the district.

Parents this week were outraged by yet another incident, this one involving a different teacher's aide who belittled his special-needs students on his Snapchat account, News 12 New Jersey reported.

In the video, the teacher uses profanity and says he enjoys being with the classroom therapy dog more than the students.

It was not known Saturday whether the aide had been suspended.