Seattle Teacher in Lead for Top Union Post Faces Police Review Amid Child Abuse Allegations

A special education teacher in Seattle is on the verge of becoming the next president of the Seattle Education Association despite currently being on administrative leave following allegations of child abuse.Preliminary election results show Ibijoke Idowu, a teacher at Rising Star Elementary in South Beacon Hill, leading the race to head the union, which represents about 6,000 teachers, counselors, secretaries, and other staff members within Seattle Public Schools.The association’s spokeswoman, Julie Popper, said that the union’s board certified the election results on Friday night, the Seattle Times reported. Ms. Idowu has been a Seattle Public Schools educator since 2021, but in December, she was placed on paid administrative leave pending an ongoing district investigation. The chief of staff and public affairs for Seattle Public Schools, Bev Redmond, confirmed the investigation to The Times. While declining to comment on active personnel matters, Ms. Redmond noted that the district notified the Seattle Police Department about the allegations, complying with standard protocols that mandate reporting suspected child abuse or neglect to authorities.The accusations stem from the parents of a third-grade student at Rising Star. The child has autism, experiences a speech delay, and is only partially verbal. In a formal complaint, the parents stated they discovered adult fingertip-sized bruises on their son’s arm in October and again in early December. By using visual communication aids, the parents asked their son if an adult had caused the injuries, and the student confirmed that Ms. Idowu was responsible.In addition, the parents allege that in December, the child’s therapist witnessed Ms. Idowu throw a marker at the student’s head while he was at the whiteboard, striking his face and glasses, the Times reported.The boy’s father, Tyson Marsh, noted the severe emotional toll the incidents have taken on his son, who now struggles with sleep and strongly resists going to school. “Any movement toward him is received as if you were going to attack him,” Mr. Marsh told the paper.A police report reviewed by the paper aligns with Mr. Marsh’s allegations, detailing instances of the teacher forcefully grabbing students by the arm and students complaining of pain. On May 6, police forwarded the case to the King County prosecuting attorney’s office as a statutory referral.“A statutory referral is unique …” wrote the spokesman for the prosecuting attorney’s office, Casey McNerthney. “Police typically send a case and identify the referral as a statutory referral when they do not believe they have evidence for prosecutors to charge a crime.” The office is reviewing the case, and no charging decisions have been made.Mr. Marsh and his family are increasingly frustrated by the prolonged district investigation and have retained attorney Lara Hruska as they consider legal action.“We are six months in on this investigation that we hope is wrapping up,” Ms. Hruska told the Seattle Times. “We understand that there have been additional allegations that have made the investigation more complicated, but six months should be enough time for the district to investigate and they need to share their results with the family.”Late last month Ms. Idowu was quoted in a campaign by the education association saying that many educators, particularly teachers of color, are being put on leave disproportionately. “Safety and security in the classroom is extremely important. Many educators of color, particularly Black educators, are often under a microscope. When things happen, we are often assumed or labeled to be a problem. Many educators feel unsafe,” she is quoted as saying.

Seattle Teacher in Lead for Top Union Post Faces Police Review Amid Child Abuse Allegations

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