Former Appleton teacher Berglund charged with child abuse

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Former Appleton teacher Berglund charged with child abuse

9:01 AM, Mar. 16, 2011

APPLETON — Child abuse charges filed Tuesday against a former Appleton teacher

shook the confidence of families and has a disabilities organization pondering a

civil lawsuit.

C. Berglund, 53, of Appleton, was charged in Calumet County Court with nine

counts of child abuse and one count of strangulation stemming from classroom

incidents dating to 2009. Berglund, a special education teacher with 27 years

experience, who earned $63,781 in 2009-10 school year, is accused of

inappropriately restraining five children with cognitive disabilities.

Berglund, who resigned in mid-February from Janet Berry Elementary School, faces

an initial court appearance on April 18.

Calumet County Dist. Atty. Jerilyn Dietz declined to comment today on whether

other school officials could face prosecution stemming from the incidents.

" I do have an investigative report into the manner in which the school reported

this, " Dietz said, noting she couldn't divulge the contents of the report.

An educational assistant in Berglund's classroom documented the incidents after

being concerned with how " rough " Berglund handled the children at times, the

criminal complaint says.

She turned her notes over to school officials in January after Berglund — who is

described to weigh about 300 pounds — lay on top of a child and pushed his head

back by the throat as he attempted to bite her, the complaint says.

Becky Kostopolus, a mother of three at Berry, said the case has damaged the

trust of families.

" Appleton Area School District has an awesome responsibility to not only say

they have corrected the situation, " she said, " but to investigate why this

happened and to develop a plan to ensure it is never allowed to happen again in

any of our schools. "

Jeff Spitzer-Resnick, managing attorney for Disabilities Rights Wisconsin, said

his organization is also investigating and is contacting the families involved

to make sure they have legal representation.

" We will likely take civil action, " he said.

According to the complaint:

• On Sept. 30, 2009, Berglund told a low-functioning 8-year-old boy to put his

head down for a timeout. The child didn't understand, and a frustrated Berglund

put her hand to his neck and head and forced it to the table. The child had

blood on his mouth when he lifted his head, from what could have been a bitten

lip.

• On Oct. 6, 2009, Berglund interlocked her fingers with an 8-year-old autistic

boy, then twisted her arms inward. The child screamed in pain from the action,

which caused his arms to twist inward and his fingers to bend back.

• The educational assistant documented four incidents involving a 9-year-old boy

with limited verbal ability in October through December 2009. In two occasions,

Berglund grabbed the child by the shoulders and shook him. In another, she

forced his head to a table during a timeout. In a Dec. 4, 2009 incident the

child failed to listen when she told him to stop sucking on his fingers.

Berglund pushed his hand into his mouth, which forced him to insert two or three

fingers past his teeth. The child began to cry.

• On Dec. 2, 2009, Berglund grabbed a 9-year-old boy by the neck and squeezed,

which caused him to cry. She then forced him to the timeout table where she

pushed his head down.

• On Dec. 16, 2009, Berglund slapped the hand of a 7-year-old blind and

cognitively disabled girl after she pinched another student.

The educational assistant told police she was in and out of school with health

issues last year, which is why there is a lack of documentation in 2010.

Supt. Lee Allinger said the district's initial investigation " raised concerns

for us in regards to restraint practices and the documentation of restraint,

which is supposed to be used only as the last resort, and we did turn our

documentation over to Child Protective Services so they could investigate

thoroughly. "

Providing a safe learning environment is the district's top priority, he said.

" If one of our educators does not meet this commitment, it is very disheartening

for all of us and demands our immediate attention, " he said.

Spitzer-Resnick praised the Calumet County District Attorney's office, Outagamie

County Child Protective Service and the Appleton Police Department for doing a

" thorough investigation " and following through with this case.

He said the organization's investigation suggests " significant disarray " among

administrators regarding handling of the situation and a climate at Berry school

in which staff members didn't " feel comfortable " reporting abuse.

" We have two goals, " he said. " Get appropriate compensation for the victims and

make sure the Appleton Area School District has systems in place so that

something like this can never happen again, and if it should happen, the

administration knows what it is supposed to do. "

Allinger stressed that Appleton staff members receive training in nonviolent

crisis intervention, with a refresher course offered every third year. " All

staff that worked in that classroom had been trained and received appropriate

refresher courses along the way. "

Berglund faces up to 30 years in prison and 30 years on extended supervision if

convicted on all counts.

Kostopolus said it's taken courage for parents to bring their children back to

school after hearing what happened.

" Hopefully the caring commitment of other Berry teachers and the community of

Berry families will help make school feel safe again for the children and

parents who were directly affected by this teacher's actions, " she said.