L.B. teacher accused of abusing special needs students

A Long Beach middle school teacher has denied allegations that she abused developmentally disabled children in her class.

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A Long Beach Middle School teacher has denied allegations that she abused developmentally disabled children in her class by using a bathroom as a “time-out” room, restraining a student with zip ties and pushing a child into a wall, among other claims.

At a public disciplinary hearing that began March 4, eight charges against the special-education teacher, Lisa Weitzman, were presented by the school district. Weitzman, who has taught in the district for nearly a decade, also allegedly duct-taped rubber gloves to a student’s hands, told a child he smelled bad and was “disgusting,” and stepped on a student’s feet and said, “You’re going to stop making those noises, you [expletive].”

The alleged abuse took place over several years and involved five students, according to testimony from the hearing’s second session, on March 9, at Lindell Elementary School. A staff member reported the allegations in November 2014, and the school district immediately launched an investigation, according to Schools Superintendent David Weiss.

Weitzman, who has tenure, was reassigned when the district learned of the allegations, and her continued employment will depend on the outcome of the hearing, which she chose to make public. According to state education law, a tenured teacher can be suspended or terminated only after such a hearing, if the teacher is found guilty.

Weitzman’s attorney, Debra Wabnik, strongly denied the allegations. “Ms. Weitzman did not do the heinous acts of which she is accused,” Wabnik wrote in an email. “She elected to have a public hearing because she has nothing to hide. She devoted herself to caring and advocating for the children entrusted to her and their families. If anyone failed these kids, it was the district. That will be borne out as the hearing continues.”