Quincy The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) called a parent of two pupils at Denman Elementary on Wednesday morning to inform her that an investigator would be visiting her home that afternoon to conduct interviews with her, her spouse, and her kids.
They informed her that the visit was intended to reopen the state’s child protective services department’s investigation into the numerous instances of two physical education teachers at Denman Elementary spanking students on their birthdays and taping their mouths shut to silence them when they spoke.
Since this situation required someone from outside of Quincy to investigate, the parent stated that the DCFS employee was from the Jerseyville region.
This time, three families were scheduled to be interviewed.
According to the parent, DCFS will shortly dispatch a forensic agent to speak with additional kids about their interactions with the concerned PE teachers, Jennifer Oitker and Kimberly Kirby.
An investigator in the DCFS who works on cases involving child abuse or neglect, sometimes incorporating forensic elements, is commonly referred to as a “forensic agent.” In order to guarantee child safety, these investigators evaluate circumstances, decide whether children are safe, and collaborate with families.
According to a number of sources who spoke to Muddy River News, the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) is now also investigating the Denman case.
Hours after the Quincy School Board declared that it would be conducting a special meeting on Friday morning to discuss what they called the Denman Action Plan, DCFS called the parents.
The Quincy Public School District had claimed to have discontinued the practice in November after MRN revealed in May that an initial DCFS report had described Kirby and Oitker’s activities, both of whom acknowledged the actions in the report.
However, a number of employees at Denman Elementary claim that even after school officials said that the practice had stopped on November 8, 2024, birthday spankings by physical education teachers persisted at the school.
Following claims by QPS officials that they instructed the physical education teachers to cease the practice, a number of parents at the July 23 Quincy School Board meeting reaffirmed what the Denman staffers had informed MRN in separate interviews earlier this month regarding the ongoing use of birthday spankings.
According to several staff members interviewed by Muddy River News, the long-standing practice was accepted under former Principal Chrissy Cox, and they anticipated it would stop when Cox was replaced in the summer of 2024 by Amber Whicker.
Denman staffer A informed Muddy River News that students had always complained to him about receiving birthday spankings, most likely in the previous three or four years. Every time, we went to speak with Mrs. Cox.
All employees at public schools are required to report child abuse, which means they must get in touch with DCFS if they suspect a child is being abused. includes educators, administrators, and both certified and non-certified school workers; staff members of postsecondary educational institutions; school board members; and advocates for education.
Additionally, according to Staffer A, the practice caused one educator to leave Denman for another facility in the QPS district.
According to the staffer, she was furious because Mrs. Cox kind of poo-pooed the entire situation. She advised them to start using pool noodles in place of their hands and shoes.
In a Facebook remark regarding the first MRN story about spanking and mouth taping at Denman Elementary, Cox denied doing such.
After the MRN story emerged, Denman Staffer B told Muddy River News that she wanted to come forward and speak with QPS supervisors, but she was informed that her testimony was not required.
One of the main myths that still circulates is that these activities continued after November, according to a statement and Facebook video posted by Superintendent Todd Pettit on June 27. This is untrue. Since then, parents have continued to voice their concerns to the district, and we have taken each one carefully. Our subsequent inquiries have been comprehensive and open.
Shortly after Pettit’s comments, a former Denman employee texted MRN, asking, “Why are they lying to us?”
When Cox was still principal, Denman Staffer A described in detail how one of her students attempted to evade a birthday spanking in the past:
He was frightened beyond belief. He refused to attend to physical education. He would sort of lose his temper. Last year, I had children who received birthday spankings. In particular, the PE doors are double doors that are secured, requiring me to badge in in order to unlock them. However, I had badged when I went to pick up my kids, and as I reached for the door, it sprang open, and one of my pupils immediately rushed out. I kind of stopped him, and I told him that I could have knocked him over. “But Miss A, they’re trying to spank me for my birthday,” he added. Mrs. Kirby had sort of appeared at the doorway at that point. I looked away from Mrs. Kirby and told my child, “Hold on, this is how you deal with this.” If you don’t want to get spanked by her. You’re going to say, “Don’t touch me,” while standing directly beside me. Then she is unable to accomplish it. I said, “Let’s try it,” after Kirby heard me say that. Be by my side. I don’t want you to touch me, tell her. I don’t want you to touch me, he says. Don’t spank me on my birthday. She also held something else in her hand, and it looked like a pool noodle. Something like a sack, perhaps. “Well, see, that’s all you had to do,” she said. You have to let me know if you didn’t want it. Additionally, I simply turned my back on her. Even if it’s a teacher, you can tell them to stop and not to touch me, I told her, ignoring her. They must listen to you, and it makes no difference.
Additionally, Staffer A stated that she made it a point to walk kids in front of cameras on November 8 of the previous school year, when they had tape on their mouths, so that administrators could see the footage.
There is a girl in my class. Her stepsister, who is the same age as her and is enrolled in (another teacher’s) classroom, will be referred to as student B. While I was walking, my student, student A, and her stepsister, who lives in her house, ran up to me. My student asked me if she could remove this expression from her face. Only for a short time? We re running out on the field and she s having a hard time breathing, and you see she s got tape on her mouth. So this is when I look and I see she s got a piece of tape on her mouth. “Oh, honey, please remove that from your face,” I said. Why would you put that on your face? We don t ever put tape on our face. It s a suffocation hazard. It makes it hard for you to breathe, and it can hurt your skin. Take that off your face. Why would you put that on your face? And she took it off, and she said to me, I didn t put the tape on my face. And I said, Well, who put it on your face then? And she said, The PE teachers put it on us. And then she kind of bowed her head, and she said they told us, if we didn t stop talking, they were going to tape our mouth shut. And she said, and I kept talking, and so they put tape on my mouth.
I said, take it off your face. Don t put it back on. If someone tells you to put it back on, come and get me immediately. And she said, But Miss A , lots (student waving her hands) of kids have it on their face. And about that time, now I m looking, I don t know why I didn t recognize this when I ve been walking, but I m seeing how many kids have it on their face. So at that moment, I decided I was gonna walk over where the kids lineup because there s a camera right there, and I knew I was gonna report it, but I wanted, like video, so that Mrs. Whicker could see how many kids had this on their face. I walked over about two minutes before we blew the whistles, and I waved to the cameras, and I did that so there was a time stamp on there so they could fast forward and see that the kids line up. I think I counted maybe 15 (in one class) maybe 12 to 15 in another. And when I reported it, I said you go look at the recess tapes between 2:26 p.m., to 2:35 p.m., and you can see how many kids had this on their face.
Staffer A said DCFS officials were there for one day and spoke to one student regarding the incidents. Then the DCFS official was supposed to return the next day.
When the DCFS person came and he told us that he was coming back the next day to interview the students, during my plan period, she said. That same day, I was in the office, there was a DCFS worker in there. Amber Whicker and Dr. Pettit were meeting with him. Then, the next morning, (a teacher) told me Well, the good news is, is that DCFS is not going to come and interview our kids. And I said, Did they say why? And he s like, Nope. Amber just came and told me that he s not going to come and interview them.’
When asked what she wanted the outcome to be from Friday s special School Board meeting, Allison Huber, who has been a community leader involved in bringing this issue to light, said the following:
In light of circumstances, dismissal of Kirby and Oitker from the district. Immediate steps taken to ensure all QPS staff are properly licensed to instruct the courses and populations entrusted to them.
An admission of gross oversight and public apology to the students, parents, and community members.
Another Denman staffer said When people ask where I work, I say Denman where the shitshow is.
I m embarrassed. There are a lot of good people there and the kids are great. But I was one of the teachers who came forward early about this because it upset me.
This staffer said she thought at the end of the year, the Denman staff was divided over the issue, but she says because the story has become more public and more details have come out, she s not sure where that split stands now.
But she was glad to hear that DCFS had returned to Quincy to further investigate the matter.
MRN asked QPS officials for a comment regarding if they were aware of DCFS reopening the case Thursday morning and no response was provided as this article was posted Thursday afternoon.
