By Victor Skinner
EAGnews.org

KISSIMMEE, Fla. – A judge recommended that a Florida special education teacher be returned to her elementary school classroom after she was fired for allegedly feeding an autistic child art supplies soaked in hot sauce.

“Lillian Gomez was fired from Sunrise Elementary School in Kissimmee back in February after district officials said she soaked Play-Doh and crayons in the spicy condiment to punish an autistic boy in her class for eating art supplies,” the Daily Mail reports.

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The school district spent $50,000 in legal fees to keep Gomez from returning after she appealed her termination, and a judge ruled Friday she should be allowed to return to the classroom, without back pay, but left the final decision up to the school district.

Hopefully, district officials will have a little more common sense. Parents at the elementary school were outraged by the judge’s recommendation, the Daily Mail reports.

“That’s ridiculous,” Todd Cincetti said, according to the newspaper. “Maybe she shouldn’t work with children. Maybe she should find another career.”

District officials said Gomez put crayons in a cup and poured hot sauce on them, then placed the concoction in a bag labeled with the student’s name and let it marinade for days, the Daily Mail reports.

We believe that’s a pretty good indication that her disgusting actions were aimed at a specific student she knew would put the art supplies in their mouth. Whether that meets the threshold of a punishment shouldn’t matter. It was wrong, and any reasonable adult would come to the same conclusion.

The Daily Mail reports that a parent from Alaska and another teacher from Florida have been convicted of abuse for using hot sauce as a punishment. Gomez should face the same fate.

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It doesn’t take a special trial and a judge’s opinion to realize Gomez cannot be trusted to make rational decisions – let alone be trusted to supervise young special needs students.

The fact that the judge left the final decision on Gomez’s reinstatement up to the school board is only another indication that this case has been a massive waste of time and money for the district. We’re sure that the bureaucratic system of teacher job protections likely played a role in dragging the dismissal out far longer than necessary.

School officials should follow through on their original plan, and fire the teacher for good to ensure that no more students are subjected to Gomez’s irresponsible shenanigans.