FULTON, NY – The special education teacher with the Fulton City School District who was arrested late last year in connection with allegations that she struck two students was cleared of any wrongdoing in Fulton City Court this past week.
By September, 45-year-old Gracia Thompson will be back in a classroom, according to Superintendent Bill Lynch.
Thompson, who served as a special education teacher at Lanigan Elementary School at the time of her arrest in November 2007, was charged with two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, a class-A misdemeanor, stemming from two separate incidents that allegedly took place earlier that year.
In court last week, Fulton City Court Judge Spencer Ludington dismissed the charges against Thompson. As he made his decision, Ludington reportedly said that Thompson’s actions were more akin to reactions to the behavior of an aggressive child and not intended to cause injury.
When Thompson — now a nine year employee with Fulton schools — was arrested, she was reassigned to a position that did not have contact with students, pending the outcome of the case. Now that the case has been dismissed, Lynch said Thompson will be reassigned again and returned to the classroom.
Lynch said that Thompson has worked as an inclusion kindergarten teacher when she was first assigned in Fulton. She worked later in 12-1-1 classrooms in Granby Elementary School before being assigned to Lanigan.
Once reassigned, Lynch said that Thompson’s performance will be monitored the same as any other staff member‘s would be.
“The nature of the program she works with is co-teaching,†Lynch said. “There are other teachers and staff members present. That was evident in the core action.â€ÂÂ
Co-workers came forward with the information about the incidents during both the district’s and the police department’s investigations.
“But I don’t personally feel that the district needs to monitor her any more than all of our other staff members,†he added.
“Gracia has worked very hard for the students in our district and at BOCES before that,†Lynch said. “Working with students with special needs has been her life.â€ÂÂ
In the time that she was temporarily reassigned, Lynch noted that Thompson worked at the district office with both Kathrine O’Brien, the director of Special Instructional Programs and Pupil Services (SIPPS), and Elizabeth Conners, executive director of instruction and assessment.
“She took on a lot of work for us through the VESID review,†Lynch said. “She was extremely helpful to us in our efforts to complete those reports.â€ÂÂ
With the matter resolved, Lynch said that the district is looking forward to returning Thompson to work with students.
“This is a really positive outcome for Gracia Thompson and for the district,†Lynch said. He noted that he is not sure yet where Thompson‘s assignment will be this fall.
“I am not sure where she will be assigned,†he said. “There have been a lot of changes in special education in the district this year.
“We will probably be sitting down in the next week to figure that out,†Lynch added. “It is a matter of sitting down, looking at our program and finding out where our needs are.â€ÂÂ
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