Young child left alone in class: 'He was crying, he was scared'
CALDWELL, Idaho (KBOI) - A young child was locked in a small room at a Treasure Valley elementary and left there for hours.
A Washington Elementary school kindergarten teacher had put Tanner in a "tutor room" during school and then forgot he was in there earlier this week
The teacher then left for the day.
"The door was closed, the lights were off and he was sitting on the floor," said James Cagle, who's son Tanner was left behind. "He had urinated in his pants, he was cold and was crying - he was scared."
The Caldwell School District says it's investigating the situation.
"At this time were finishing up the investigation," said Monica White, assistant superintendent. "We're taking it very serious."
The rooms are used for extra help and small group exercises --
but Tanner's father says his son was put in there for something else.
"He had taken apart a link in a countdown chain until Christmas and I'm sorry that's not something you put a kid in an isolation cell for," Cagle said.
The Caldwell School District wont comment on the teacher's current status, but here at Washington Elementary School some parents say they saw the teacher in a classroom on Thursday.
The school district says it's still investigating and trying to keep every student safe.
"We're taking steps to ensure this doesn't happen to any other child and that our procedures and protocols are in place to make sure every child in Caldwell school district is safe," the district said.
A Washington Elementary school kindergarten teacher had put Tanner in a "tutor room" during school and then forgot he was in there earlier this week
The teacher then left for the day.
"The door was closed, the lights were off and he was sitting on the floor," said James Cagle, who's son Tanner was left behind. "He had urinated in his pants, he was cold and was crying - he was scared."
The Caldwell School District says it's investigating the situation.
"At this time were finishing up the investigation," said Monica White, assistant superintendent. "We're taking it very serious."
The rooms are used for extra help and small group exercises --
but Tanner's father says his son was put in there for something else.
"He had taken apart a link in a countdown chain until Christmas and I'm sorry that's not something you put a kid in an isolation cell for," Cagle said.
The Caldwell School District wont comment on the teacher's current status, but here at Washington Elementary School some parents say they saw the teacher in a classroom on Thursday.
The school district says it's still investigating and trying to keep every student safe.
"We're taking steps to ensure this doesn't happen to any other child and that our procedures and protocols are in place to make sure every child in Caldwell school district is safe," the district said.
Truly inexcusable! This teacher showed not only inadequate knowledge about age appropriate discipline, but also lack of empathy & caring. Not someone I want to care for my child or anyone else's child for that matter. This boy was humiliated & scared, trusting the authority figure that failed him so miserably. I feel for him & for his family.
Where there any consequences to the teacher? Similar situation happened with my son, but not as severe. I received a phone call from his teacher, 3 hours after he was left in a classroom alone, and only because the pricipal suggested she call me.
we would get child neglect, child endangerment, and all the other charges in the world. This is not a simple mistake. She didnt just forget a piece of paper she forgot a whole life she was put in charge of. If she cannot do her job right then she shouldn't do it at all. He should not have been sent to an unsupervised room period and for her actions she should be fired. She cannot be trusted with lives of others so she should not have the job and i would sue the whole school if i was this father
Being on the Protection and Advocacy board in Ky. we review cases like this, along with other restraint and seclusion situations that end much differently.  What all parents or gaurdians of children in the school system or in any publicly funded facility need to do is, look up your states restraint and seclusion regulations and reporting policies in your district, and read them. You will find that many states have little to no regulations regarding this. If your state is one of the "non-regulated" states be pro active in making the changes needed. Take situations such as this to make something positive happen not only in your school district but that will affect children across the state.
 This is a sad and disturbing situation for this child, the family, school, and school district. I believe there are good productive teachers that use behavior managment and best practice to address behavior issues. I also believe there are teachers that 'react ' instead of being proactive with the many personalities of there students when students step out of line.Â
When you take a child out of the class room you are taking them out of the learning environment. Taking them out you do not address the behavior, you ignore it and it continues to reoccur in a more magnified way. It also breaks trust between the student and teacher which is a large part of the educational experience for a child.Â
If I had left my child at home on a school day, in a room, door shut, lights out, told them not to open the door, with no access to a restroom, and the school reported my child as such I would be arrested with charges of abandonment, abuse, child endangerment, and other charges. Â
By taking the avenue to sue you accomplish nothing but express anger publicly and it's temporary. Taking the avenue to hold the teacher and school responsible by contacting the proper agencies to take steps to create the changes needed in your district and state will have a permanent impact for all children.Â
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 @W.Everly I AGREE! Before I read this statement I wrote something similar on my facebook! I agree with you completely, unfortunately this "bad day" for this so called teacher may only cost her her job if even that... If I had done such a thing the TRAGEDY would have resulted in me loosing my kids and going to JAIL! Which I have to say would be deserved! The board of education needs to take this teachers license away to ever be near children again!
@W.Everly  FINALLY! The voice of reason....well said.
Perhaps if the parents taught their child at home about listening to his/her teacher, the kid would not have been in trouble to begin with.
 @wondering that is absolutly no excuse to leave a child. Oh you didnt listen its your fault. If he had choked if he had a piece of candy in his pocket or something noone would have known. Would you say oh its his fault hes dead because he should have listened. There was NO reason for him to be alone, and no reason for this bad teacher to leave him.
The child broke a Christmas countdown chain.
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If it wasn't an accident, The child probably just wanted Christmas to come sooner. Perfectly understandable at that age and hardly warrants such an egregious error in judgement on the part of the teacher.
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And what is a Christmas countdown chain doing in the classroom anyway?
simple...for sure.
and you all should note the room was not windowless the door clearly had a window and iam sure the lights were on a timer as most school lights are . the teacher simply forgot about the child plain and simpleÂ
Oh.....I don't know......not only was the child way over punished for a silly infraction, he was placed in a windowless room WITH THE LIGHTS OFF and forgotten about. That's just brutal.
i feel bad for the little boy feeling scared and for peeing on himself . and i feel bad because iam sure the teacher is a good teacher and just made a bad decision . and simply;y forgot as many people everyday do . we all make mistakes  people . maybe a suspension might apply  but for the man to loose his job come on people ?  Now that's ridiculous . How would you feel if you made a mistake and  someone wanted you fired . i think an apology and suspension and effectiveness class on handling children  is appropriate for the teacher  but not fired .Â
Is there any update to this story?
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I'm not convinced that Monica White is taking this very seriously at all. Tanners' entire class if not the school is now traumatized by this travesty. Are the parents of all the students banding together and standing up for this child? It could have happened to their child.
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I read this last Friday and I'm still shocked. I want justice for Tanner.
@kflory WHAT A CRY-BABY YOU ARE.. THE ENTIRE CLASS ROOM TRAUMATIZED EH? GET A LIFE,PLEASE . I`M SURE YOU WOULD WANT TO SUE EVERYONE FOR A BILLION DOLLARS AFTER SUCH A NIGHTMARE EVENT. IT`S WORST THAN 9-11.              RUN FOR THE HILLS EVERYONE RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@BIGKUNAÂ kflory is right dude,. does someone needs to die for people to take action in ur eyes? Well if someone u love ( if you love tho) will be scared for hours and helpless than there might be 10% chance that you could understand the situation as u sound so hash! U know that child could be traumatized for a lifetime and not willing to go to school anymore,. is that what a teacher has to do to innocent little children? Yes he or she needs to het charged, she did not get the title of a teacher to make mistakes. She is a teachter she needs to teach in a right way! If she does not get charged than I will see it as shes not teaching the children but het fellow collegues what they can also do as in any case its allowed!
mmmmm....no.
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Just charged.
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Washington Elementary couldn't afford me.
I believe that the teacher should have never punished him in that way to begin with. What in the world is our school's coming 2. If that were to ever happen to someone I know. Well let's just say the teacher would be doing the urinating in his own pants!!! What the heck was he thinking....Oh yeah obviously he wasn't!!!
My kids go to that school and if that happens to them I will sue! I am not joking. I think you should do better background checks on your teachers! Your lucky I am not working there. There are alot of things I would change! And why the heck are those kind of rooms there in the first place?
 @Jeannie Bridgman Does anybody know the name of this "Teacher"?