Ind. teacher fired for taping shut student's mouth

[January 17, 2009]  LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) -- A school board in Indiana has fired a middle school teacher who placed duct tape over a special-needs student's mouth to keep him from talking in class.

The board of Tippecanoe School Corp. voted Wednesday to cancel Pamela Dahnke's contract. She was an eighth-grade health and nutrition teacher at Battle Ground Middle School in West Lafayette.

Superintendent Scott Hanback says the September taping incident "cannot be tolerated."

The board also says Dahnke failed to implement the student's program for special needs and that she returned to the school after being told to leave.

The Journal & Courier of Lafayette reported Wednesday that Dahnke said she was unaware the board had made a decision. A call to a listing for Dahnke was not answered Friday.

[Associated Press]

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