A West Virginia case where educators admitted to verbally abusing special education students highlights the need for greater transparency, oversight, and parent vigilance.
FARMINGTON HILLS, MI, December 11, 2025 /24-7PressRelease/ -- The Advocacy Circle is encouraging parents of students with disabilities to ask hard questions about safety, supervision, and transparency in their children's classrooms following a West Virginia case in which three former educators admitted to degrading and verbally abusing special education students.
Coverage from WTOV/7News recounts how a parent used a hidden recording device to capture staff threatening and mocking students in a self-contained classroom at Berkeley Heights Elementary School in Berkeley County. The recordings sparked a civil lawsuit by the West Virginia Attorney General's Office under the state's Human Rights Act; you can read it here.
The enforcement case was filed in 2019 in the Circuit Court of Berkeley County under the West Virginia Human Rights Act, W. Va. Code ยง 5-11-1 et seq., by the West Virginia Attorney General's Office. The case resulted in a consent order permanently barring the educators from teaching or working with special needs individuals in West Virginia public schools.
The lawsuit was brought by the Office of the West Virginia Attorney General, currently led by Attorney General JB McCuskey. The Attorney General's Office is located at 1900 Kanawha Blvd. E, Building 1, Room E-26, Charleston, WV 25305, Tel. (304) 558-2021.
"Families of students with disabilities should not have to rely on hidden devices or media investigations to know their children are safe," said Dan Rothfeld, COO of The Advocacy Circle. "Parents can, and should, ask about classroom cameras, staff training, crisis procedures, and how the district handles concerns about mistreatment."
Rothfeld encouraged parents to document concerns in writing, follow up when something feels wrong, and connect with advocates or legal professionals if schools dismiss or minimize reports of abuse or neglect.
The Advocacy Circle provides families with practical tools to organize incident logs, prepare for meetings, and track district responses when safety issues arise in special education settings.
The Advocacy Circle is a nationwide support platform for families navigating special education. Built by experienced advocates and education-law professionals, TAC provides on-demand resources, structured tools, and guided workflows to help parents understand their rights, prepare for school meetings, and advocate effectively for their children.
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